Eternal Vigilance
by goldfoil
Summary: Ch. 25 Tonks reveals that pink is indeed her 'natural' hair colour, and finds out some more things about Metamorphmagi.
1. On Ilkley Moor

Remus pulled his jacket around him tightly and looked across the field. A thin layer of snow remained at the edges, but elsewhere numerous feet had reduced it to slushy mud. The footprints marked out a trail, towards a clump of trees at the other end. There, the mud and snow was tinged red. He shivered, and not only because of the cold wind sweeping eastwards.

The site was being watched over by one Auror. Remus squinted at her, but could not make out many details. Most importantly, she did not look familiar. She was dressed in the plain, black robes of an on-duty Auror, and her dark hair was pulled back into a neat bun. She was constantly turning, scanning the surrounding area quite carefully, exuding an aura of competence.

Remus shrugged, crossed his fingers and started across the field. After all, it was better to try the direct approach first. If that did not work, then he could try sneaking. At that thought, he smiled wryly. He had become altogether too good at sneaking in the last few years. He noticed that, behind the Auror, a force field surrounded the crime scene. It shifted slowly from a faint, transparent red, to a similar white at a slow pace. Remus was unsure what happened if you touched it, but was sure that it would bring nothing good. Constant vigilance was clearly the orderof the day.

The Auror was watching him openly now. Remus summoned up a professional smile and held out his hand. "Good afternoon. My name is ..."

"Remus Lupin." The answering voice was sober, with a hint of amusement running underneath. Remus felt a frisson of fear run up his spine as the woman shook his hand, a touch unenthusiastically. He said nothing.

"Don't you recognize me, Remus?" The Auror placed her hand over her heart and dropped her head. "I'm heartbroken." Remus looked at her carefully. The face did seem familiar somehow; round, and chirpy. He breathed in, trying to gain some extra information from his heightened sense of smell. Suddenly, everything clicked into place.

"Tonks. Nymphadora Tonks." He smiled properly, this time. "It's good to see you again. You look - you look completely different."

Tonks smiled back. "Really? I mean, I know my hair isn't quite as wacky as it used to be, but still. How are you, Remus? It's been, what, four years? I see some of the old crowd occasionally, but none of them have mentioned seeing you in ages."

Remus' smile straightened, and then disappeared. "Well, you know how it is. I've been doing a bit of this, a bit of that."

Tonks nodded, and her smile faded too. "I would say what a marvellous coincidence it was, meeting you here, but I somehow doubt that you just accidentally happened to be in the neighbourhood." Her mouth quirked sarcastically and she waved vaguely towards the force field.

Remus looked at her carefully, weighing his answer. He pulled that morning's _Daily Prophet_ out of his jacket's inner pocket and straightened out the front page. The headline was bold and uncompromising. "WEREWOLVES ATTACK. ONE CHILD FOUND DEAD. TWO DISAPPEARED - FEARED BITTEN." Remus slowly folded the paper back up. "I saw this, and I thought that I might be able to help track down those responsible, and then encourage them to give themselves up, to bring the children back. We ... the other ... werewolves in Britain, we can't let this kind of behaviour lie. We have to do our bit."

Tonks nodded seriously. "Remus," she said gently. "A crack team of Aurors is currently scouring this area for clues. We'll find the perpetrators."

Remus looked at her despairingly. It needed to be a werewolf who found them, to try and repair the damage done. The situation had been bad enough before. "I was thinking that I might be able to smell something at the scene of the crime, that might help with identifying or tracking down the criminals. I know quite a few of the werewolves in Britain, at any rate."

She tapped her nose thoughtfully. "That's a fair point. It's true enough that we haven't been having any luck so far, though you shouldn't tell anyone that." She smiled broadly, and Remus was strongly reminded of the Tonks he had known before. "However, I'm not in charge of this case, so technically I don't have the authority."

Remus did not say anything. Tonks looked around, and then back at him. This time, her smile was rather bitter. "Still, least said, soonest mended. Come on then, Mr. Lupin." She turned, and flicked her wrist. Her wand slipped into her hand. She flourished it, and mumbled something, obviously trying to stop Remus from overhearing. The force field flickered and then disappeared.

Remus stepped forward eagerly, noting all the while that Tonks had her wand out and at the ready; specifically, in his direction. He looked over his shoulder and raised his eyebrows in question. She shrugged apologetically. "I'm sorry Remus. It's not that I don't trust you. But, well ..." Her voice trailed off. Remus could have finished the sentence. He turned back and started to study the scene before him.

There were clear signs of a struggle, and plenty of dried blood. The dead child's body had obviously been removed earlier, but the area where it had been was marked. Remus leaned forward, trying to avoid giving even the impression of disturbing anything. There were signs of struggle all around. Remus inhaled deeply, but there were too many odours for him to pick out any one clearly. Too many Aurors had trampled over the site. And on top, there was the acrid smell of fear. That particular scent could take a long time to dissipate. Remus sighed, and hoped that the child's death had been quick. As for the two missing children, there could be little hope that they had escaped being bitten. It was strange that their bodies had not been found though. Usually, werewolves would eat their prey, and if the children had escaped, surely they would have returned home by now. Remus straightened and wiped his eyes. Last night's transformation hadn't been too painful, thanks to the Wolfsbane potion, but he was still awfully tired.

A wider trail led towards the trees, indicating that something heavy had been dragged that way. Remus followed it slowly, making sure not to mark the trail, and keeping his nostrils flared. He was starting to pick out a distinctive scent. He said quietly to Tonks, "I think I've got something."

As he passed the second tree, his head whipped round. Caught on a branch was a small tuft of short grey hair. He did not touch it; doubtless Tonks would not appreciate that at all. Gingerly, he leaned forward, and sniffed. He stopped and sniffed again. The blood drained from his already pale features, leaving him looking positively corpse-like. Tonks, two steps behind him, gasped, and said hurriedly, "What is it, Remus? What's wrong?"

He turned to look at her, straightening up. He opened his mouth, but found no words. He was too busy trying to work everything out in his mind. Finally, he stuttered, "I know that ..." He stopped again, and glanced back at the tuft of hair.

Suddenly, Tonks spun round, looking to the other end of field. "Remus," she hissed. "The chief investigator is headed this way. You don't want him to find you here. He's not a werewolf fan. Quickly, run into the forest. I'll keep them occupied"

Remus glanced up and saw two figures just starting to cross the field. "Thanks, Tonks. I really appreciate this."

"Good. Be in the pub in this godforsaken town - there's only one. I imagine I'll be free in about an hour. You're going to tell me why you're as white as a sheet." She paused. "Be there, Remus. I don't want to send the Aurors after you."

Remus bared his teeth in a rictus laugh, and then spun on his heel and started away, trying not to make too much noise. He glanced back and saw that Tonks had replaced the Auror boundary. As soon as he was a reasonable distance away, he started to run.


	2. Hengist's Cup

The pub was called _Hengist's Cup_. The name was written in shaky letters on a battered old sign, complete with a twee painting of a rugged man wearing a crown, lifting a golden cup up towards the sky. The sign swang back and forth, creaking rather annoyingly. Remus had been watching it for quite a long time now. The wind was not as strong away from the exposed moor, and he was fairly sure that the sign had been charmed to swing endlessly. He had walked up and down the wizarding street in Ilkley several times now, and was starting to get a bit worried about attracting attention. He did not quite dare to head towards the field to see where Tonks and the other Aurors were. In fact, he was not at all sure that meeting Tonks was the best thing to do. He sucked in his breath, dug up his courage, and walked through the door, into the _Hengist's Cup_.

The place was a typical wizarding public house. It was dark, dingy, and had a roaring fire set in the middle of one of the walls. That, at least, was welcome. It was also quite full, mainly with middle aged men apparently on their way home from work. Remus headed towards the bar. The bartender was a burly chap, with a rather unwelcoming smile. He nodded at Remus in greeting. "Good afternoon. What can I get you?"

Remus glanced at the pumps on the bar: Butterbeer (normal and Special Brew), Mead, Goblin's Fancy, Hag Ridden and, on special offer, Dumbledore's Old Favourite. The pump label was marked with a picture of the old man himself, winking at anyone who looked in its direction. Remus was tempted, for old times sake, but the chocolate beer was a bit too sweet for his tastes, and in addition, was fourteen percent. Sweet, but deadly. Remus knew that Albus would have thought it a fitting memorial. "I'll have a pint of Goblin's Fancy, please."

"Coming right up." The bartender started to pull the pint. "Are you new to the area, then?"

"Oh, just passing through, on business."

"Ah. With the Parkinsons, if I may ask?"

"No."

By this time, the pint had been pulled. Remus handed over the necessary money, and then moved away, finding a table in a corner where he could keep an eye on the door. He had not known that the Parkinsons lived in this part of the world. From the barman's question, it sounded as if there had been quite a few visitors to the Parkinson household recently. Still, that was not a major issue at the moment. With a soft sigh, he sipped his beer and tried to sort everything out in his head.

He had been there for about an hour when he finally saw Tonks walk through the door, looking bedraggled and rather stressed. This time, he recognized her easily. For a moment, he wondered how he had failed to recognize that heart-shaped face, especially after all that they had been through together. Even with her black robes and dark hair, she seemed out of place in the dark pub. Quite a few of the patrons had noticed her entrance and were eyeing her speculatively. Tonks looked round, and spotted him almost immediately. Hurrying over, she said, "I'm so glad you're still here. Wilkins was going on and on. Look, what are you drinking?"

Remus' glass was just about empty. He drank the last mouthful, and then said, "The Goblin's Fancy. It's pretty good, actually."

"Hah. I'm more of a Hag Ridden girl myself." With that, she whirled off to the bar. She returned with two drinks, and settled in, carefully making sure that she had a good view of both the fireplace and the front door. "So, Remus, it's been an awfully long time. And you're really not looking at all well, you know."

Remus shrugged awkwardly. "I do what I can." He was not inclined to ask anything in return, and so the conversation stalled momentarily.

Tonks pursed her lips, and then continued on regardless. "Still, I suppose it's not really your time of the ... year." Remus' eyes widened in panic. Tonks leaned forward, and said quietly, "What's going on, Remus? You recognized something out there. Don't even try to deny it."

Remus sat stock still, his heart racing. Tonks mistook his silence, and started to speak urgently, "Look, Remus, I've just spent a long time making up a cock'n'bull story about a strange man coming out of the woods to satisfy Wilkins and the other Aurors. He saw you. I wasn't quick enough. Fortunately for the both of us, he didn't see you inside the actual site. Now, you've got to come clean with me."

Remus started to shush her. "Not here, Tonks. Not here. This is certainly not the place to discuss anything like that."

"Why not? It's noisy, no one can hear us at this level. Why would anyone be listening, in any case? I am an Auror, Remus, and I wouldn't have said what I just said if I didn't think it were safe to do so."

"I know, but even so, there are some things that I won't risk, even if you will. Anyway, how do you know that your boss isn't somewhere round here?" He stared at her.

"Oh, well that I can answer quite easily." Tonks chirpy tone was back in place. "I saw them all go Apparating off back to London. They're all convinced that I'm an unreformed alcoholic in any case. I'm on a mission to investigate the safety standards in pubs across Britain!"

Remus smirked despite himself. "Better not say that _too_ loudly, or they'll get worried and throw you out."

Tonks chuckled. "Yeah, you're probably right about that." Her voice dropped lower. "But we still need to discuss certain matters. While we're finishing off these drinks, I'll think about it."

"Can't say fairer than that." Remus took a long sip of beer. "So, you're still an Auror, then? It's been, what, twelve, thirteen years?"

"Something like that, yeah. Same old, same old, though. This is actually the highest profile case I've handled in a long while."

"Oh. But, last time I spoke to Kingsley Shacklebolt, he told me you were doing really well, that you'd get promoted in no time."

Tonks snorted. "And how many years has it been since you 'last spoke to Kingsley Shacklebolt'?" When Remus did not say anything, she continued, "And you, my good man? What have you been up to? Where are you working?"

Remus' face closed up. "I do a bit of this, a bit of that. You know how it is."

Tonks stared at him for a long moment, and then her face softened. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have asked that. I read about all that horrible mess with the Muggle school in the _Daily Prophet_. Really, it's shocking the way that the Ministry carries on sometimes." Her voice rose at the end of that phrase. She had obviously spoken from the heart.

The phrase must also have been overheard by one of the men at the bar, who turned to face the pair of them. "Aye. It really is a disgrace. Those Ministry types, don't know their ... "

The barman had strolled over by this time, and he interrupted, "Alright, Ted. That's enough now."

Ted obviously did not agree. "If they did their job properly, we wouldn't have crimes like this happening here. Not to decent folk. Now, no disrespect to the Aurors, and the fine work that they do," he nodded to Tonks, "but everyone knows that they're understaffed. It's up to the bureaucrats in the Ministry to sort out this werewolf problem." By now everyone in the pub was listening, and mostly nodding along. Ted picked up a rather old copy of the _Daily Prophet_ and brandished the front page. "Look what happens when these monsters aren't controlled. Attacking people's children. It's just not right."

Another man joined in. "I'm right behind you, Ted. They should lock 'em all up, and throw away the key. No good can come of allowing monsters to roam around pretending that they're human part of the time."

Ted nodded magnanimously. "Jack, you don't go far enough. They don't bring anything but misery to society, and they're a risk. They should be shot on sight. When I think of the Mastersons, and their poor little boy, my blood boils." There were quite a few murmurs of agreement.

Tonks turned to Remus, and whispered, "I'm sorry - of course you were right. We'll discuss this elsewhere." Then, she stood up, pulling her Auror robes around her. "Be assured that the Aurors and the Ministry are treating these matters very seriously indeed. However, we cannot condone pre-emptive strikes on werewolves. They are, after all, human, for the majority of the year."

Another one of the patrons spoke up. "That may be the legal opinion, but it's not true is it? They're _not_ human. They're _part_-human, whatever the laws say. If they were human, they'd be able to control themselves. All they can do is infect others. Who ever heard of a werewolf doing an honest day's work?"

Tonks tried again. "The Ministry is doing everything in its power to ensure that all werewolves are in strictly controlled environments at the full moon."

Before she could finish, another voice was heard. "But it's not enough, is it? That's why more needs to be done."

The barman suddenly stepped in. "Alright, people, that's enough. No need for shouting, now is there? The Auror here is just trying to do her job." He motioned for Tonks to sit down, which she did rather quickly. The other customers continued to discuss the matter rather loudly, but did not try to involve Tonks any further.

She said shakily, "Sorry about that, Remus. I really hate situations like that. I never know what to say."

He smiled at her, looking the very picture of calm. "Me either, Tonks. Me either."

She nodded firmly, fixing a determined look back on her face. "Right. Well, how about we go to my house to discuss this. That should be a safe place. I can even offer you dinner, too!"

Remus retracted slightly. "That's a nice offer, Tonks, but are you sure that that's wise. What if your boss ever found out?"

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained." Tonks was now sporting that reckless grin that Remus remembered from all those years ago. "In any case, you look like you could use a good meal." She reached into her robes, and pulled out a silver box. With a flick of her wrist, her wand was in her hand. She muttered, "_Incendio_." A small spark started up inside the box. Tonks shook it a bit, and then put it to her ear, before saying clearly, "Tonks residence, 54 Mulligan Street."

She waited for about a minute, before saying animatedly, "Hi Cal, it's Tonks here. I should be back in half an hour, an hour, something like that. I'll be bringing someone with me - can you make dinner for three this evening?"

The reply was obviously quite short, because a few seconds later, Tonks said, "Thanks a million. You're a real star. _Finite_." She turned to Remus, and said, "Well, that's sorted then. I hope you like kidneys."

For a moment, Remus was speechless. Finally, he decided that he had to say something. "Was that a Felly-Tone?"

"Sure was. They're standard issue for Aurors in the field. But, we prefer to use the muggle term. Mobile is so much better than that fool name Fred and George gave 'em. Also, that gives WWW an incentive to try and improve these things. They're nowhere near as useful as the Muggle ones."

Remus laughed. "I bet Arthur was proud of the name though." His smile faded rather quickly then. "Can I have a look please? I've never had the chance before."

Tonks handed over the device. There was the small hole where the spark entered, and there was the embossed WWW trademark, and there was the Floo Powder holder. He said, "Very nice. I don't think I'll be getting one any time soon though."

"Oh, I most certainly wouldn't have one if I weren't an Auror. The cost of Floo Powder these days is astronomical. The stocks haven't recovered since the Argent Birch Blight epidemic three years ago."

"I know what you mean," replied Remus. " I'm not even sure it's worth having my house connected to the Network these days. I only have a small amount of powder, for real emergencies. You'd have thought they would have managed to cure the trees by now."

They continued to discuss the Floo Powder crisis as they finished their drinks. Finally, Tonks stood up, and said, "Well, we'd best be off, or we'll miss dinner. I guess the best way is to Apparate to Diagon Alley, and then we can walk from there, as you've never been there before."

"Lead on, Macduff. Lead on." And with that, the two of them nodded to the barman, and Apparated out of the pub.


	3. Calvin Matthews

Tonks and Remus had Apparated to Diagon Alley, and then headed off on foot towards Mulligan Street. After a twenty minute walk, they stood in front of a red-brick terraced house in the middle of a Muggle neighbourhood.

"Well, this is my place – casa Tonks! Let's hope that dinner's ready."

Remus nodded eagerly; his stomach had started to grumble during the walk. As they walked towards the door, he asked, "So, this Cal, he won't mind me showing up for dinner?"

Tonks turned to look at him, a bit startled. "Of course not, he loves cooking. But, you've met, haven't you?"

"I don't think so."

Tonks looked a bit worried, and then shrugged as she opened the door. "Well, too late now." Then, she smiled disarmingly and walked in. Remus followed, closing the door as Tonks hurried along the hallway, pushing through a door, saying loudly, "Cal, I'm home."

A quieter voice answered. "Yes, I noticed. You're looking well. Finally have a good day at work or something?" The voice was calm and uninflected.

"Not really. Spent all day standing around in a cold, windy field in the middle of Yorkshire."

Remus walked towards Tonks, feeling a little nervous. Tonks whipped round, and motioned for him to step forward. "Right, this is our extra dinner guest."

Remus stepped into the kitchen, and stopped abruptly, his mouth opening slightly in surprise. The young man talking to Tonks was tall, with lank, shoulder-length black hair and grey, fathomless eyes. They were empty, and his face was similarly blank. He would have been handsome, but for the air of hopelessness around him. Remus stuttered, "You ... you look just like ..."

The young man cut him off rapidy, a cold sneer tightening across his features. "Thank you. I am perfectly well aware of who I look like."

Remus could not think of anything to say, and an uncomfortable silence stretched out. Tonks winced and stepped forward between the two of them. "Right, well, I'll make the introductions then. Remus Lupin. My cousin, Nero Lestrange."

Remus put his hand out mechanically, somewhat shocked. "I taught you, didn't I? At Hogwarts."

"Yes." The voice was cold.

"Yes. I didn't recognize you, though."

"That was a long time ago."

Remus cast around for something to say. "I didn't realize you were living with Tonks."

Nero smiled bitterly. "My cousin has been most welcoming. So, what brings the famous Remus Lupin, werewolf, here?" His lip curled at the word 'werewolf'.

Remus winced, and said, "Oh, I bumped into Tonks today, out in Yorkshire, and she invited me round for dinner."

Something flickered in Nero's grey eyes, and his face softened slightly. "Indeed. I saw the paper this morning, Mr. Lupin. You and your kind have been attracting a lot of attention lately."

Remus stiffened, feeling rather put out now. Before he could say anything, Nero's face reassumed its previous blank look. "Forgive me. I have forgotten all of my manners. Would you like an aperitif?"

Remus was rather startled by the volte-face. "Erm, sure."

"Is sherry okay?"

"No problem."

Nero nodded firmly, and then stuck out his hand. "Call me Cal."

Remus shook the offered hand, completely confused. At this point, Tonks took over, and ushered Remus through to the living room. It was a comfortable room, with a small fireplace in the corner, and a sofa and armchair round it. At her invitation, Remus sat down in the armchair. A second later, Cal appeared with a small glass of sherry. He disappeared back into the kitchen, saying that dinner would be served in ten minutes, and then closing the door firmly.

Remus looked at Tonks, his eyebrows creased in question. Tonks settled into the sofa and then leaned forward, to whisper confidentially, "Well, that didn't go too badly. After you said that he looked like Bellatrix, I thought that he would take completely against you. He doesn't like being reminded about his parents."

"I wasn't going to say that. I was going to say that he looked like, well, like Sirius. Sirius, after he had been in Azkaban." Remus stopped speaking, and closed his eyes in sorrow.

Tonks patted his knee gently. "Oh. I never thought. He might like that better. But probably best not to mention it again. After all, he told you to call him Cal. That's a mark of respect." She was grinning, and Remus was not entirely sure if she was serious or not.

Remus opened his eyes, to see Tonks' worried eyes staring at him. He found a smile somewhere. "Don't worry. I was just surprised. And, well, the last time I saw Nero, uh, Cal, was at his appeal." He sipped his sherry thoughtfully.

Tonks nodded, and then leaned back. "So, when are you going to tell me your suspicions?"

Remus looked towards the kitchen door, and pointed, mouthing the word, "Safe?"

Tonks sniffed, looking quite offended. Remus suddenly noticed the hard lines in her face that seemed quite akin to Cal's expression earlier. Tonks said, "As you prefer. He'll be going out after dinner."

Remus took another drink, and glanced round the living room, feeling decidedly uncomfortable. "So, why did you decide to get a place in the Muggle part of London?"

"It seemed like a good idea. It's a bit of a faff, changing my Galleons to be able to pay the rent, but even with the exchange rate, it's better than most Wizarding houses. And, the fireplace is a fixed size – no unwelcome visitors."

"But you can still communicate?"

"Oh yes, it's big enough for that kind of thing."

At that point, the kitchen door opened, and Cal called out that dinner was ready. Tonks and Remus went into the kitchen, where the rectangular dining table had been set out for a formal dinner, with a pristine white table cloth, and sparkling stainless steel cutlery.

Cal looked at Remus' expression, and smiled briefly. "We don't have guests very often."

Tonks and Remus sat down, and Cal served up the food. Tonks stage-whispered, "I find this a most satisfactory arrangement – Merlin only knows that I'd drop everything everywhere."

The dinner consisted of kidneys wrapped in bacon and mustard, sitting on a bed of rice mixed with carrots. Remus thought that it smelled divine. Tonks nodded in appreciation. "This is new, Cal."

"I got the recipe from a friend down the pub. I've added my own special ingredient, though."

Remus said, "It looks quite exotic."

Tonks said, "Well, the Muggles round here, they take recipes from all over the place. It's wonderful."

"This is a Muggle recipe?"

Cal replied, "Close enough. I hope that you like kidneys."

"It's been a while since I had any, but yes." Remus cut one in half and tasted it. "That's very good. In fact, that's damn fine."

Cal smiled. "That's why I like cooking kidneys, or liver for that matter. You get real flavour, but they're quite cheap to buy."

A bottle of red wine had already been opened on the table. Tonks reached over and poured everyone a glass. Remus sipped it, and found that it matched the meal perfectly. If he remembered correctly, Tonks had never been a connoisseur of food or wine, which meant that this Nero Lestrange knew his stuff.

"So, what do you do, Cal?"

Cal's face remained blank. Remus found it quite intimidating. "I do, well, this and that."

Tonks snorted. "That's exactly what Remus said when I asked him the same question."

"You could be a chef," said Remus. "I mean, this is really good."

Cal looked away from the table, as if he could not trust himself to speak. Tonks had started to blush. Remus sat there, unsure as to what he had said wrong. Cal finally turned back to the table. "Mr. Lupin, I read about your problems with the Muggle school. I was awfully sorry to hear about that. The new rules make it awfully difficult for any of us to do anything outside of the wizarding world."

Remus frowned. This was not one of his favourite topics of conversation. "The Ministry has a responisibility to protect Muggles from wizards, as well as vice versa. But, in many senses it is only fair."

"But it's not fair. How is a wizard supposed to function in the Muggle world if he is sporting some ridiculous name? How is he supposed to get a job of any value when his educational qualifications are not recognized by the Muggle world?"

"But that does not make it right for us to use our magic to create false certification. Or to use false names. I did it because I ..." Remus faltered.

"We know why you did it," said Tonks. "Anyone with a brain would know why you did it. What I don't get is why the Ministry has been so draconian. They never used to have a problem with people sidestepping into the Muggle world."

"From a moral point of view," countered Remus, "getting a job by fraud is wrong, no matter the personal situation. And on being arrested by the Muggle police, it's true that because of my condition, I would have soon been in violation of the International Statute of Secrecy. I had no choice but to contact the Ministry. I'm just lucky that they didn't send me to our prison." His voice faded away on the last word, and he threw a nervous glance at Cal.

Cal replied, "You're right, but it is a shame that they decided to make it a serious offence for wizards to use fake names in the Muggle world. And with the qualifications thing, it makes it so much more difficult to earn a reasonable living."

Remus laughed mirthlessly. "That's true enough. Although even if we did have qualifications, we'd still have a job to use the computers. But you still haven't answered my question, Cal. Oh, and call me Remus, too. What do you do for a living?"

Cal's face tightened. He looked angry, and yet his eyes were still blank and untouched. Remus shivered. Sirius had sometimes looked very similar, after his time in Azkaban. "I work in a bar. The _Green Dragon_."

"Never heard of it, sorry."

Tonks said, "Well, that's not surprising. It's a Muggle pub a few minutes away from here."

Cal chipped in, "I have it better than a friend of mine, at any rate. I have a _bona fide_ Muggle name. Calvin Matthews."

Remus was intrigued. "How do you have two names? Wizard names are very difficult to change. An acquaintance of mine tried to change her name a while ago, but it was too expensive. Not many people have the strength to cast the charm, either."

"Before I went to Hogwarts, while my parents were in Azkaban, I grew up in the Muggle world."

The conversation stopped for a moment, and the three concentrated on eating. Cal had prepared a pudding as well, a warm steamed treacle pudding covered in custard. As he said, exotic cuisine was all well and good, but a good pudding was perfect. Remus had not eaten so well in many days, and he savoured every mouthful. Tonks asked Cal about his day, and was listening half-heartedly, occasionally glancing at Remus. He tuned in again as Cal started to describe a recent news broadcast.

"It was that Martin Felcher, roving reporter. He was in Worthington. Apparently the Cunning Changeling struck again. He wandered into the local clothes shop, disguised as some old fogey well known at the shop, cleared out their new Gladrags line, and then paid with leprechaun gold!"

Tonks had started to bite at one of her fingernails during this recital. "That isn't good news, at all. I wish I knew who it was. They should assign me to that case. But no, of course not." She shook her head, and then glanced up at the wall. "Oooh, look at the time, Cal."

He nodded. "I had better go. I'll take care of the washing up."

"Thanks, you're a star."

Cal stood up, and then said, in an oddly formally voice, "I will be at the_ Green Dragon_ until eleven thirty, and then I will be coming back directly."

Tonks smiled sadly. "Understood and noted." She stood up and motioned to Remus. "Let's go back through to the other room."

Remus sat down, and watched as Tonks fussed around, making a cup of tea. As she carried two cups through into the room, something happened, and suddenly both cups were on the floor in pieces. Tonks looked incredibly annoyed.

Cal dashed into the room and looked at the floor. "Well, that hasn't happened in a while. Don't worry, cousin, I'll bring through another. You go and sit down."

Tonks sat down, shame-faced. "That hasn't happened in years, Remus."

"Well, it's not the end of the world."

Cal brought through two cups of strong white tea, and with a shouted goodbye, headed out of the house. As soon as the door closed, Remus turned to Tonks, and said, "So, what exactly is he doing here?"

Tonks looked cross. "He's my cousin. He is quite welcome. But stop changing topics, Remus. I've been waiting all evening. I want to know what you know about that werewolf."

Remus sighed, and leaned back in the armchair. "It's complicated."


	4. The Name of the Wolf

"Well, we've got all evening," said Tonks, looking rather unamused.

Remus steepled his hands in front of his face, trying to assemble his thoughts into a coherent pattern. He had been thinking, or more accurately, trying to avoid thinking, about this discussion ever since he had run away from the crime scene. He had found clear traces of the guilty werewolf, and he could identify those traces, unambiguously. However, he could not believe the answer. He felt very old and alone.

"Yes. We do. First of all, I had better say a few words about my 'abilities'. I don't think this ever came up in conversation before. Most of the time, I'm perfectly ordinary. However, close to the full moon, the spirit of the wolf starts to rise inside me." He paused, unconsciously taking on his schoolmaster's voice. "A week before the full moon, my senses of smell and hearing become gradually sharper, and then start to fade away again, returning to normal a week after the full moon. Today, my senses were at their most sensitive."

"Really?" Tonks sounded very interested. "They told us in Auror training that several werewolves had been noted to have sensed things that they really shouldn't have. We're always told to assume that werewolves have far superior hearing if we have to engage. I always assumed that it was a permanent thing."

"No." Remus continued in his didactic tone. "And it is not the kind of information that most of us would volunteer. It is ... not pleasant to feel the wolf rising. It can make it quite difficult to know exactly what is going on, when your level of hearing is constantly in flux. To remember when you should be able to hear something, and when not." He smiled briefly. "Although it has come in useful a number of times." He remembered several escapades in the halls of Hogwarts, hearing the approach of Mrs. Norris, and warning the other Marauders just in time to make a clean getaway. Lost in thought, he did not notice Tonks' firm nod of understanding.

"Anyway," he continued, after a brief moment, "I thought that I might have a chance to identify the guilty party."

Tonks interrupted again. "How so? You said on Ilkley Moor that you thought you could track the suspect, and that you knew most of the werewolves in Britain?"

"Yes. First of all, tracking either the wolf or the children would have been easy. Particularly the children. Animals really can smell fear, you know. The stench of it lingers."

"That implies that you didn't track them, Remus. I thought that you followed their trail." Tonks looked rather concerned now. When Remus did not reply immediately, Tonks sighed. "Look, Remus, you may be an old friend, but I am an Auror. Although my boss certainly wouldn't be happy, I am obliged to report any information that I can find on the killer, from any source. I took a chance, letting you in today, a chance that could cost me my job. I hope that you're willing to testify about whatever you discovered, if necessary."

Remus looked at her curiously. "Why _did _you tell me to run away?"

"You're quite the famous werewolf, Remus. My boss would have recognized you, and assumed immediately that you were involved."

"You don't like your boss, do you?"

"No comment." Tonks' words were sharp, but the tone was chirpy, with a definite undertone of _'who does?'_.

Remus coughed. "I will tell you what I know, Tonks. If you still want me to testify when you've heard what I have to say, then I will."

Tonks looked at him suspiciously. "Well, get on with it then."

"I could have followed the trail, but I was too surprised. In any case, it was fairly obvious. I am sure that even the Aurors could have followed it." His teeth flashed, and Tonks was suddenly very conscious that he was a werewolf. "I was surprised because I recognized the scent. Everybody has a particular smell. In many ordinary people, this is often masked by soap, or perfume, or whatever. Similarly, every wolf has a personal smell, only it is never hidden."

"Right, I don't suppose many wolves go for Rococo No. 1," interjected Tonks.

"Indeed. Therefore, in principle, I can identify any werewolf that I have met, as long as I met them either on or close to the full moon."

"Can that be proved? I mean, I'm sure that my boss would call that groundless supposition."

Remus shrugged. "It's the truth."

"And you've met a lot of werewolves, then?"

Remus took a long drink of tea before answering with another question. "What exactly do you know about the current state of werewolf legislation, Tonks?"

She looked startled. "Well, I've only recently moved into the field. I know that the laws were changed recently. About six months ago. But you were involved in that, weren't you? Why don't you tell me what you know?"

"I was only lightly involved. If you don't mind, I'll take a few minutes to describe the situation. It'll make things a bit clearer later on, if that's okay."

"Take all the time you need. As I said, we're in no hurry." Tonks settled back, wrapping her fingers round her mug of tea.

Remus again adopted his teacher's voice. "There has been quite a lot of change recently to the laws specifically governing werewolves. Before the change in the law six months ago, werewolves were obliged to undergo their transformation in a secure zone. This had to be certified by Ministry officials, but that was all. If you didn't have such a place yourself, then you could present yourself at Sorrel's Institution."

"That's the secure unit of St. Mungo's, right? For criminal cases?" Remus could tell that Tonks already knew the answer.

Remus nodded. "Yes. The only problem with that setup was that you had to pay for board, lodging and supply of Wolfsbane there, as they wouldn't let you change without it, for security. Not many of us could afford it. Wolfsbane is a very expensive potion to make, as I'm sure you know, and not many people can actually brew it. This left quite a few people without a solution. I'm lucky in that I had a secure place at my house, but not everyone does. Now, most of us know a few boltholes, where we can transform without being a danger to others, but sometimes something happens. We always try to avoid that though, as if you're caught transforming outside, then it's straight to Azkaban for you."

Tonks looked at him over her mug. "Like the case of that little girl, eight months ago."

"Exactly. She was bitten by someone who couldn't afford to shelter at Sorrel's. He was absolutely devastated by what he had done. He killed himself, you know. I thought that enough was enough. We, the werewolves, we don't really have anyone to represent our interests, and people just think that we're being irresponsible. So, I thought I'd try and do something."

"You went to see Harry. Harry Potter."

"Yes. He said years ago that I could always drop by, and so I finally did. I told him all about the problems that the current legislation was causing, and asked if there wasn't a way to help everyone, by allowing all werewolves to transform safely, and thus show the public that they're safe. Now, Harry's a good lad, and he proposed a law straight away." It had been such a long time since he had seen Harry. He had grown up. Remus had been delighted to see him again, but it had been clear that Harry was too busy to spend much time remembering the past. Remus had also had the impression that Harry did not want to dwell on the past; he could understand that sentiment quite well.

"I remember reading all about in the papers. The _Prophet_ was shouting that it was a disgrace, spending good taxpayers' money on keeping werewolves in the lap of luxury." Tonks sneered at the mention of the paper; it clearly was not popular in the Tonks household. "I've never understood how that rag is still around. I mean, when the _Invoker_ started coming out, I bought it every day, but then it just folded. Not enough readers, apparently."

"Well, the _Prophet_ has never been an example of good journalism. It only got worse after it was bought by that American, Crintus Baldock." Remus shook his head in amazement. "After that, the law couldn't be passed in its original form. I'm sure that Harry tried his best, but the final law ended up being a bit too strict. It stated that every werewolf was either obliged to transform in a secure place, as certified by the Ministry, if and only if they had someone willing to sign a paper certifying that they locked them in every full moon, or else they were obliged to present themselves at Sorrel's. If you couldn't pay for the lodgings and the Wolfsbane, you were obliged to work there for two weeks before and after." Remus paused, weighing his words. "I wasn't too happy about that, as it meant that I could no longer use my own home, and had to go to Sorrel's."

Tonks' eyes widened. "So what is it like?"

"Well, not too bad for me. I still have enough money to pay for a few more visits. The Wolfsbane potion is always there; it even tastes a bit better than the usual stuff. Also, quite a few of the people there were quite keen on the prospect of having some work to do for once. The place is rather unpleasant though." Remus did not really want to say too much more about the insides of Sorrel's Institution. It was not a welcoming place, and he hated going there every month. "I've been there for the past five full moons, and it's usually the same crowd who goes. There aren't actually all that many werewolves around. It's actually been quite nice to meet some of the others on a regular basis. I've got to know a few of them quite well."

Tonks leaned forward. They were now approaching the crucial matter. "And you've been around them close to the full moon. You know their scent."

"Exactly." Remus closed his eyes, remembering yesterday evening. Each visitor had his own area, but they all looked out into a common room. It was very difficult to pretend that you were not affected, when your neighbour started howling.

"So you're saying that the killer has previously been at Sorrel's?" Tonks scrunched up her brow, concentrating hard. "We've got a list of all of the werewolves who weren't in custody last night, but most of them have gone to ground, and are proving difficult to find. If you can pinpoint one in particular, that might make the search a lot easier."

Remus felt like crying. "Why? All of the others are breaking the law as well."

Tonks didn't answer for a long moment. "Remus, this case involves a murder and two infections. This is very serious."

Remus set his cup of tea down and held Tonks gaze. "I know, Tonks. I know." Now was the moment of truth. Remus bit his lip; he himself hardly believed what he was about to say. "I recognized the scent of the werewolf who was present on Ilkley Moor last night. I was particularly surprised because I encountered that scent last night, before I transformed, and this morning, when I was leaving Sorrel's Institution. It belongs to the man who was in the cubicle next to me. His name is Quadrille Beaufort, and I've known him for eight years, more or less." All of Remus' senses were on alert now, and his heart was racing. This secret had been weighing down on him all afternoon, and he was glad to share it now.

Tonks looked confused, and Remus could not blame her. "But how can that be? How sure are you that that was the scent? It doesn't sound very likely to me."

Remus sighed. "Everybody has their own unique scent. I've known Quadrille a long time, since he was infected, in fact. I know his scent. And I know that it was his scent all over that crime scene. I just don't see how he could have been there though." That was true enough. Remus and Quadrille had had breakfast that very morning. Quadrille had seemed very worn, and had been sporting some scratches along his left cheek, but scrapes were not uncommon after a transformation.

Tonks was not satisfied. "Well, I know that the name Quadrille Beaufort wasn't on the list I mentioned just now. And if you yourself saw this fellow at Sorrel's last night, and again this morning, I don't see how he could have been in the middle of Yorkshire. Are you sure that your sense of smell hasn't been fooled?"

"I don't know. I can't explain it. I've never been wrong about a scent before. The only thing I can think of is that he Apparated part way through the transformation some how. Although, he comes from Surrey, so I don't see how he would have ended up in Yorkshire. But even then, he'd taken the Wolfsbane, just like me, so he shouldn't have attacked those kids." Remus shook his head in frustration. "Did the Aurors follow the trail? Where did it lead?"

"Yes. It didn't lead anywhere. There were the marks of someone being dragged, and pawprints into the forest, but they led to a clearing and we couldn't find anything further." Tonks paused. "Just as if they had Disapparated out of existence. Argus Mackinnon thought that perhaps the wolf ate the kids, but there wasn't enough blood for that to have been the case." She shivered at the thought.

"But how could a werewolf have transported a bitten child, let alone two? And why? The wolf is just hungry. This doesn't make any sense." Secretly, Remus could not help but ponder the possibility of a bizarre Ministry plot to discredit werewolves. He was absolutely certain that he had correctly identified the werewolf. However, it seemed unlikely that Tonks could be convinced of that.

"You're right, Remus, it doesn't make any sense. Occam's razor and all that. I think you must have mixed up the scents." Tonks sighed and rubbed her eyes. "On the plus side, I won't have to explain to Wilkins that I spent the afternoon lying to him about strange visitors to the crime scene. Well, thank you for trying, Remus."

That definitely sounded like a dismissal. Remus fiddled with his jacket lapel. "Well, it's getting late now. I'd best be getting back to my place." He stood up. "Thank you for dinner, and for letting me have a look round this afternoon."

Tonks stood up swiftly, painting a bright smile on to her face. "It was lovely to see you again, Remus. I really mean that. About the case, I'll keep in touch. I'll run an investigation on this Beaufort chap tomorrow, although I don't really see how he can have anything to do with it."

Remus smiled and nodded, wondering what to do next. The only thing he could think of was Apparating home and going to sleep, in the hope that something would make sense in the morning. He shook hands with Tonks, promised to visit again soon, and concentated on his own living room. In an instant, he was there.


	5. Wherever I Lay My Hat

The morning arrived, and Remus felt no better. He decided to lie in bed for a few minutes, to plan what to do with the rest of his day. Yesterday's events were whirling through his mind. It had been a shock to see Tonks again. They had almost had something together, all those years ago during the War. Remus grimaced. Almost; that was the story of his life.

He put an end to that line of thought and turned instead to the problem of the werewolves. He was positive that the scent and the hair that he had seen at the crime scene belonged to Quadrille Beaufort. However, he also knew for a fact that Quadrille had been with him in Sorrel's Institution last night. Tonks clearly had not believed him; she had said that she woud investigate but Remus doubted it. It had sounded as if she was having enough problems at work without starting on wild goose chases. Remus could see only one course of action, he would have to go and speak to Quadrille himself. At least that way, he would be able to check the scent one more time.

That decided, Remus was soon out of bed, dressed and breakfasted. He still felt fragile after the full moon, but he could walk, and talk, and that was all that was necessary. Quadrille was one of the unfortunate souls forced to work in Sorrel's Institution to earn his Wolfsbane potion. That meant that he was easy to find, but would only be free at lunchtime.

To pass the time, Remus went out to buy a newspaper. He lived in small town in Devon that had quite a few wizarding families mixed in with the Muggles. One of the corner shops was run by one of them, the Pathaks, and behind the Muggle front there was a selection of magical goods; the _Daily Prophet_, some sweets, some tricks from Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, and a few stationery supplies.

When Remus arrived, a few of his neighbours were clustered together, speaking in agitated tones. Remus said hello, and was a little perturbed at the rather frightened glances that he collected. Finally Silvia Higgs said hello, and the others all mumbled something. Remus nodded, picked up a copy of the _Prophet_ and left quickly. They all knew that he was a werewolf; he was in fact the most famous werewolf in the country, if not the world.

The _Prophet_ itself was a full of rubbish as ever, at least in Remus' opinion. The pages were filled with more information on the werewolf attack. Apparently the Wizengamot was busy discussing the issue, and whether the current laws needed strengthening. The _Prophet_ was encouraging them to do so, scathingly quoting Warlock Quintus Dorfaux saying that the Wizengamot had to pay due attention to the rights of werewolves and the laws of the land. Remus rubbed his eyes tiredly, and turned the page. He noted with something like satisfaction that the Aurors at the scene of crime wanted to question someone who had been spotted nosing around on Ilkley Moor.

At tweve o'clock, Remus put his jacket on and lit his fire. He took a pinch of Floo Powder from his diminishing stock, dropped it into the flames and said, "St. Mungo's."

The reception at St. Mungo's was surprisingly empty. The receptionist seemed rather bored. Remus thought that he recognized her; yes, if he was not mistaken it was Eloise Midgen, one of the girls he had taught at Hogwarts. He told her that he wanted to go through to Sorrel's Institution. It was always better to be expected on arrival at Sorrel's. Eloise looked Remus up and down and said, with a faint sneer, "Very good, Mr. Lupin. I'll key the Floo through."

Remus looked away and stepped through the Floo again on her signal. The reception area he landed in was not nearly so bright. The walls seemed to suck all of the light out of the room, and Remus felt his spirit start to shrivel. Another receptionist was looking at him with some distaste. He recognised this woman, in her fifties, as she was usually present when he arrived on the full moon. She looked down over her glasses at him and said, "Yes, Mr. Lupin, how may I help you?"

He cleared his throat nervously. "I was wondering if I could have a word with Quadrille Beaufort, please?"

The receptionist made a big show of leafing through the parchment in front of her. Eventually she looked up and said, "Very well. I believe he is just having his lunch in the garden area."

Remus nodded, thanked her and set off. The 'garden area' was another dark room, with a few potted plants grouped in the middle. Stern benches were set against the walls. Three people were seated there. They were all werewolves.

One of them, Timothy Hardin, looked up and said in surprise, "Remus! What are you doing here?"

Remus shrugged. "Hi guys. I thought I'd drop by to see how you were all doing?"

Another one, Methuselah Smith, snorted. "Likely story, Lupin. You can't wait to get out of here after the full moon."

Timothy slapped him lightly on the shoulder. "And nor would you if you didn't have to come back here."

Remus pulled his copy of the _Daily Prophet_ out of his jacket's inner pocket and threw it to Timothy. "I thought you might like to see this, for reference for when you go home."

Quadrille Beaufort spoke then, bitterly. "Home? As if we'll ever have a real home. This place is the closest thing we'll get, and its a bloody prison. And we didn't even do anything wrong."

"Except get bitten," said Timothy.

As there was no real answer to that, there was a short silence. Remus said, "Is there anything I can do for your guys? Are there any messages you'd like delivering?"

Methuselah spat at one of the potted plants. "If there was anyone, do you think that I'd be here?"

Quadrille looked at Remus and said, "Could you give a message to my daughter, please. I think she forgets about me, you know. I saw her a couple of weeks ago, but, any opportunity ..."

Remus had been expecting this, as Quadrille often asked him to do this after transformation. Two days ago, he had not mentioned it. Remus stuck out his hand. "Come on, then. Let's discuss it while walking. And leave these fine fellows to their lunch."

Quadrille and Remus spent a few moment wandering the corridors, before Quadrille said, "I am so very glad that you came today, Remus. My mind was so foggy after the last transformation. It was all I could do to eat the next day. That's why I didn't ask you. But if you could go and say hello to Salsa for me, I would really appreciate it."

Remus' smile was somewhat strained. "Of course I'll go, although Salsa's mother was less than keen for me to go in last time. I dare say she won't be any more willing today."

"No," said Quadrille sadly. "She causes enough fuss about visiting rights. Anyway, just tell Salsa that I'm okay, and ask how she's doing, and whether she's learning everything that she should. She'll be going to Hogwarts next year, you know." His smile was now tinged with pride.

Remus nodded, and then the awkward silence that followed provided a suitable gap for his questions. "So what happened at the full moon? Did you have a bad transformation or something?"

Quadrille shook his head. "I really don't know. I took the Wolfsbane potion as per usual, but I can't really remember anything after transforming. I mean, usually you remember snippets, right? And then, in the morning, I was so tired. I felt as if I'd run a marathon. I still feel a bit shakey now. And you, Remus, did you have any problems? Was it a dodgy batch of the potion? I wouldn't put it past 'em to take out the painkiller parts."

"No, it seemed just as usual to me. I mean, I don't usually remember too much in any case. You didn't, I don't know, do any magic at the time?"

"I don't thing we can, can we? In any case, they take our wands away."

Remus rubbed his eyes. "Of course. Of course they do. Honest to gods, I think I'm going senile." He added silently, "Or mad."

He had no more questions, and left at the end of the lunch period, leaving the three werewolves to toil away in the secure institution. He visited Salsa, who had been moved far away from Surrey to avoid Quadrille. She lived with her mother in Northumberland. Remus Apparated there, and was rebuffed by the mother. He persisted, and managed to speak to Salsa for about five minutes. He was a little disappointed that the child did not seem very interested. Quadrille was obviously right.

He Apparated back to his house, now feeling dog-tired. Magical travel certainly took it out of you. He thought that Muggles had it quite easy, sitting on their trains and in their cars. He had very little food in, and very little desire to spend ages cooking, so he took a few vegetables and made up a thin-looking potato salad. As he ate, rather joylessly, he remembered Nero Lestrange's advice to buy kidneys and liver. He would have to look into it. After that, with little else to do, he went to bed.

The next morning, Remus again stayed in bed. He was semi-consciously reviewing his options, when he was woken fully by the sound of glass breaking. Immediately after that, a cacophony of noise infiltrated his house. He heard phrases like, "Out, werewolf!" repeated by many different voices. There were more thuds, as if his door was being broken down. Remus leapt out of bed, and rapidly pulled on some clothes. He scrabbled wildly for his wand. With it in hand, he felt a bit safer. Grabbing his wallet, he opened his bedroom door to find out exactly what was going on. He went down the stairs cautiously, and saw that his kitchen window had been broken, and that his hall was filled with people, mostly his magical neighbours. Ruchika Pathak spotted him and shouted, "There he is! There's the filthy monster!"

Remus did not hang around. He bolted back upstairs, into his bedroom, slamming the door shut behind him. Footsteps rushed behind him, and someone shouted, "_Incendio_!" The spell thudded into the bedroom door. Remus glanced back and scanned the room. He fell to his knees and reached under the bed to grab a slim box that contained his important papers and Gringotts key. With that in hand, he Apparated away.

Or rather, tried to Apparate. Nothing happened. He tried again, making sure that he was using his wand correctly. Again, nothing happened. The door slammed open. Remus took one look at the hate-filled faces that were approaching and ran to the window. As he ran he shouted, "_Reducto_." The window pane exploded, and Remus jumped out.

He fell about fifteen feet, but was prepared and landed without too much shock. He jumped up and started to run away. The horde that had invaded his house stared at his back from the window.

Remus did not stop moving for at least an hour. After crossing a few gardens he wheeled round and headed into the Muggle heart of the town, figuring that wizards were less likely to look for him there, or use spells against him. He went into a library to catch his breath, and hid at a table behind several shelves of books. He picked up a book randomly, and pretended to be engrossed in it.

In reality, his mind was racing. He had no idea why a lynch mob had suddenly appeared outside his house. Obviously, it was because he was a werewolf, but he had thought that he had had good relations with his neighbours on the whole. He had no idea if he was liable to be attacked in any wizarding area. If he did not dare go to a wizarding area, then it would be very difficult to find out any news. On top of all that, he had no idea why his Apparation charm had failed, and he was not yet ready to try again, especially not in public in a Muggle area.

He had to find a friendly wizard, who would be able to get him some information. Although true, Remus did not find that idea immediately helpful. He could not think of anyone to go to. He did not work with anyone. His friends from previous times were all long gone, or would not be willing to help him now. And he did not know where any of them lived.

At that, he remembered Tonks announcing into her Felly-Tone quite clearly, "54 Mulligan Street." Tonks it would be then. She had been nice enough two days previously, and if he explained the situation she might be able to help him out. She was an Auror, but he did not think he had committed any crimes yet. He stood up and went to find the London A-to-Z.

Travelling by bus, it took him most of the day to make it to 54 Mulligan Street, and he arrived at five thirty. A tad nervous, he knocked on the door. After a short wait, it was opened by Nero Lestrange, who stared at Remus with his impenetrable grey eyes.

Remus stuttered, "Hi, Cal. Is Tonks in?"

"No. She's not back yet."

"Oh. Do you know when she will be back?"

"No."

Nero remained quiet, and Remus wilted. "Well, what time does she usually get home from work?"

"She's usually back about now, but I think she might be a lot later today." Nero paused. "Why are you here, Mr. Lupin? Can I take a message?"

Remus was defeated. "I, um, no. I just wanted to ask ..." He ran out of things to say and rubbed his brow.

Nero smiled slowly, giving his face a cruel cast. "Mr. Lupin, you look quite distraught. May I offer you a cup of tea? I've got today's newspaper, as well."

Remus closed his eyes briefly and then looked back at Nero. "That would be very nice of you, Cal. And I told you before, call me Remus."

"As you wish. Come on in."

Remus followed the young man, and closed the door. He was soon ensconced in a chair, with a cup of tea, staring in dismay at the front page of the _Daily Prophet_. "WEREWOLVES: NAMED AND SHAMED. The Wizengamot yesterday refused to consider legislation to control the dangerous werewolves in our midst. We at the _Daily Prophet_ believe that the wizards of Britain should be able to protect their loved ones. We are therefore publishing a list of known werewolves and their residences. Forewarned is forearmed."


	6. Home Sweet Home

Tonks was late home that night. At six o'clock, Calvin started to make dinner in the kitchen. He had left Remus alone to read the newspaper, something for which Remus was rather grateful, and finally spoke to ask if Remus would like something to eat. In short order, they were both tucking into a shepherd's pie. When Remus asked about Tonks, Calvin said, "Even Tonks can manage a re-heating charm!"

After that, Remus did not have the energy to start a conversation, and Calvin seemed perfectly content to remain in silence. After they had finished eating, Remus noted that Calvin started to get more and more agitated, and kept glancing at the clock. Just as Remus was about to ask what the problem was, the fireplace roared into life, and he spotted Tonks' head there. Calvin had rushed over as soon as he heard the first crackle, and crouched in front of the fire, obscuring Remus' view. He stepped back, but still listened in to the conversation.

"Hi Cal," said Tonks. "Sorry, it's been a crazy day and I'm not sure when I'm going to be back. In fact, I can only talk for a few seconds."

"No problem. I'll be at the _Green Dragon_ until eleven-thirty, and then I will be straight back. Okay?"

"I've got it, Calvin. Have a good evening."

"You too, Tonks. Come out if you're not back too late."

With that, her head disappeared from view. Calvin turned and ooked at Remus. "It looks like it was a pretty bad day." He paused, and then said, "I'm off to work now. Come along."

Remus did not really want to accept. It had been a difficult day and he was low on funds, particularly Muggle money. In addition, conversation with Calvin was like trying to draw blood from a stone. Calvin refused to take no for an answer though, finally saying that Tonks would not like it if he left Remus all alone. Remus gave up arguing eventually, and was dragged out of the house about two seconds later.

The pub was literally only five minutes walk away. As they approached, Calvin said, "At least we didn't have to worry about your clothes; you dress more Muggle than most wizards."

Remus shrugged and did not reply; Muggle clothes were a lot easier to get hold of, and for a better price. The pub itself was a large place with two main rooms. It was nothing at all like a wizarding pub. The main room had tables clustered round the edges and a small space packed with people standing in groups, shouting. They had to shout to be heard above the music. Remus had never heard anything like it before; it was considerably worse than the Weird Sisters in his opinion. Calvin grabbed his arm and dragged him through the throng to the second room. This was still pretty noisy, with the music carrying through, but conversations could actually be held in here.

Calvin led him to the bar, which connected through to the first room, and said, "I figured you'd prefer this side, although if I'm wrong, feel free to go through!" He grinned at that, and his whole demeanour seemed to shift to Remus, to a kind of childish mischievousness. The flash was soon gone though. "I'm just going to sign in, and I'll drop by when I can." And then he was gone.

Remus took a seat at the bar, and surveyed the drinks. There were some pumps for beer and lager, and then some bottles of wine, and a whole array of drinks with names that sounded positively poisonous. He particularly didn't like the translucent blue liquid that was stocked in a set of small bottles. It reminded him of a nasty potion he had learned to brew at school, used to remove warts.

When one of the serving staff approached, he ordered a beer, and was served a nice enough pint of bitter. He sipped at it slowyly, and thought about all that had happened. He did not think that he would be able to go home; he would ask Tonks if he could stay over, and then tomorrow he could think about sorting out something else. He should also try and get in touch with his fellow werewolves. He hoped that none of them had been hurt, as he imagined that his wake-up call this morning had been repeated at several other homes across the country. He had been very lucky to get away unharmed. Idly, he wondered if anything would happen to the editor of the _Daily Prophet_, but that seemed rather unlikely to him. The leak of the information from the Werewolf Registry had probably been a deliberate policy move by the relevant Ministry official in any case. For some reason, Remus had always found that the people who worked in the Department for Magical Creatures were very anti-werewolf. At least the Wizengamot had stood up for werewolf rights, in some form or another. Remus supposed that Harry was behind that manoeuvre. Remus acknowledged silently that that did not help the children who had been taken two days previously.

Before he could continue down that line of thought, a click of the fingers startled him. Calvin was standing across the bar from him, smirking. He leaned on the bar, and said, "How's your beer, Remus?"

"Not too bad, thanks. Nice place. Do you work here often?"

"You could say that. Hang on a moment." Calvin rushed over to serve a customer. After about half an hour there was another lull in demand, and Calvin headed back over, accompanied by the other bartender. This was another young man, of about Calvin's age, with a broken nose and blond hair gelled into spikes. Remus noted that the tips had been dyed pink. It did not really suit the blond's colouring, making him look washed out.

Calvin waved at Remus and said, "So, this is Remus Lupin. He's an old flame of Tonks." He glanced sidelong at Remus to see how he reacted, but Remus did not move. "Remus, this is my good friend Bobby." His lips twitched, as if he wanted desperately to laugh.

Bobby stuck out his hand. "Pleased to meet you, Mr. Lupin." They shook hands, and then Bobby said, "So, you're sniffing round old Tonks again, then, are you? Can't say as that I blame you. Lovely woman."

Remus stiffened, thinking that Bobby had laid a subtle emphasis on the word 'sniffing', but then decided that he was over-reacting. "Oh no. I was in the area, and thought I'd drop by and say hello, but she's still at work."

"Yeah, she works too hard. She needs someone to look after her." He winked jokily.

Remus said, "Well, it seems that Calvin is doing his bit. He's a pretty good cook.'

"That he is, but he's family. It's not the same. Well, excuse me, Mr. Lupin, I have to get back to work." The blond turned to go to the other side of the bar, waving to another customer. As he arrived, Remus saw him start to laugh hysterically, and felt mildly perturbed, before deciding that he was just being paranoid.

At eleven o'clock Calvin called last orders, and the unhappy punters started to leave. Remus sat waiting for Calvin to finish tidying up. Bobby said, "Hey, Cal, do you want to go clubbing next weekend?"

The black-haired young man shrugged. "I wouldn't mind, but I'm a bit short on cash at the moment."

Bobby said, "No problem. I just won the lottery." He fished a ticket out of his back pocket, all the while smiling rather toothily.

Calvin rubbed his eyes wearily. "Bobby, you can't keep doing that. You should stop playing."

Bobby looked rather affronted. "Hey, I won fair and square, man. Three hundred squids."

"Three hundred pounds? That's still a fair bit, Bobby."

"So, you want to go? We can head into central London. Do some dancing."

"I'd love to. I'll see if I can get the okay." Calvin looked over at Remus. "Mr. Lupin, how about you? Fancy some clubbing?"

Remus looked at the pair of them, and sensed that he was the butt of a joke. "Oh, no thank you. It's all a bit beyond me."

Calvin grinned again, and then hung up his towel. "Alright, let's go. See you later, Bobby."

As they walked back, Remus, feeling oddly cheered, decided to ask. "So, what's clubbing then, in the Muggle sense?"

They arrived back at 54 Mulligan Street just before eleven-thirty. Tonks was at home, although Remus could easily see that she was very tired. She did not look surprised to see him, but nodded, and then said, "Hello again, Remus."

"Hi. Sorry to drop in on you like this unannounced. I came by earlier, and Calvin took me with him to the pub."

Tonks waved away his words. "I was sent over to your house this afternoon. To be honest, I was a bit worried about you. It was a bit of mess. The folks there said you leapt out of a window and ran off." She blinked suddenly and looked away at the windows. "I'm glad you're okay, Remus."

Remus held his arms out. "See, I'm fine." She grinned at that. "Hard day at work?"

"And then some. After we got hold of a copy of the_ Daily Prophet_, it was too late to do anything about it. We were getting calls from people all over the country. All we've been able to do is clean up. I've been round to most of the houses. As it's known that I'm not anti-werewolf, I was asked to try to find as many werewolves as I could. The Ministry would prefer to know where you all are, rather than have you chased out of your homes."

Remus sat down in an available chair, rather heavily. "All of the places listed were attacked?"

Tonks nodded. "I'm sorry, Remus. I didn't have much luck finding anyone either. They'd all gone to ground. Not that I'd have done much different myself." Calvin came in from the kitchen, bearing three mugs of tea. Tonks took hers gratefully. "But all we have now is a bunch of scared werewolves, a lot of scared people, and no guarantee that anyone will transform securely next full moon."

Remus said gently, "Most of the werewolves that I know will go to great lengths to transform safely. They don't want anyone else to suffer like they do."

Tonks said, "Most, Remus, most. It's the rest that I have to worry about. This will make it even harder to track down whoever was responsible for that murder." She looked up at Remus. "I placed in a request yesterday for any info on Quadrille Beaufort. Nothing came up."

Remus said, "I went to see him yesterday, actually, at Sorrel's. He works there."

Tonks looked annoyed. "You went to see him? A suspect? Merlin, Remus, how's that going to help?"

Remus cringed slightly at her tone. "I didn't say anything about the murders, Tonks. I just went to check up on his smell, to check that I wasn't mistaken. I had a reason to go anyway. I usually take a message to his daughter after the full moon, and he didn't give me one last time. Anyway, you don't believe a word of it, so why should you care." His fists were now clenched.

"Calm down, Remus. I'm sorry. It's been a tough day. I'm sure you didn't give anything away. So, what was your nose judgement?"

"My nose told me the same thing as last time. That it was Quadrille. He said that he'd had a rough transformation. Been very tired. Somehow, and I don't know how, it was him. But he doesn't know."

Tonks rubbed her forehead, looking incredibly weary. Remus suddenly thought that she needed a hug. She said, "So, what exactly happens at Sorrel's? You guys go in, you take your potion. You go to your cell, and you transform. That's it?"

Remus grimaced. "Well, I would prefer not to use the word cell, but that's basically it. We get there early, and take the Wolfsbane."

"Wait a minute," Tonks interrupted. "I thought that Wolfsbane had to be taken two weeks in advance or something."

"That was the old version. In the new improved version, you can take it a few hours before. I hadn' had this new version before going to Sorrel's. It even tastes better than the old one! Although that might just have been Snape's version, specially brewed for me."

Tonks looked interested at that. "New version. Right, I remember now. Developed, what, three years ago? By someone in the Ministry?"

"Yes, Bletchley. He's younger than you, you know. Supposedly a potions genius."

"So what's different about the potion then? Apart from the sweetness. Or maybe... Yes, that should be the first line of investigation, I think. Checking out the potion."

Remus was quite surprised. "You mean you're actually going to follow this up?"

Tonks was slightly offended. "I'm an Auror, Remus. I try to find the truth. That means using all information available, even if it might be tricky to declare how I got that information." She was smiling by the end of the sentence. "So, are you going to stay here? We've got a spare bedroom."

"Oh, if I could that would be great. I don't have anywhere else to go this evening. I'll sort something else out tomorrow."

"No need. You're welcome to stay here. In fact, I insist." She smiled disarmingly. "I won't tell the Ministry where you are!"

Remus was reluctant to agree, not wanting to impose. Tonks did not press him. "So, how did you like the _Green Dragon_?"

"It seemed nice enough."

Calvin suddenly said, "It was a pretty quiet night."

Remus had jumped when Calvin spoke. He had forgotten that the lad was there. He flashed a glance at Tonks, worried that they had been indiscreet. She caught his eye, and then said, "Don't worry, Cal is the very soul of discretion." Remus was hardly reassured.

Calvin said, ignoring Tonks, "We met Bobby."

Remus noticed that Tonks looked confused. "Bobby? Who the hell ..." Remus was quite puzzled, but then Tonks' face cleared up. "Oh, of course, Bobby. He's a great guy."

"Yeah. He's won the lottery. He suggested going clubbing at the weekend to fritter away his three hundred pounds. Want to come?"

Tonks smiled. "Oh, I don't know. But you should go."

Calvin did a perfect impression of a whining child, "Thanks, Mum." Tonks sighed exasperatedly, and reached over to slap his knee.


	7. Hell Hath No Fury Like A Woman Scorned

The next day, Remus woke up relatively early, but Tonks had already left for work. She had left a note on the kitchen table, telling to make himself at home, and asking if he could find anything out about any of the werewolves who had disappeared yesterday. After breakfast, Remus set out to do just that. Being active would keep his mind off all of his other problems.

The _Daily Prophet_'s list formed his starting point. He recognised most of the names on the list. Surprisingly, Quadrille's was not there. Nor was Methuselah Smith's. Remus frowned, and resolved to pay a visit to Sorrel's in the afternoon. The morning was reserved for visiting as many of the places on the list as he could find.

This proved to be tiring work, as Remus had to Apparate and then walk in most cases. Several of the names on the list had attracted no attention, as they lived far from other wizarding families. Some of them slammed the door shut in Remus' face, but others were pleased to see him, and asked him for all of the information he had. Of the other names, some had been threatened but remained in their houses. Most of that group were not at all happy to see Remus, and chased him away in short order, but some were a little more receptive.

The last category comprised those who had fled. After a lot of footwork, particularly important when avoiding any local residents who found his behaviour suspicious, Remus had established that three of the names on his list were dead, either directly, or as a result of running away and having an accident. Remus failed to establish contact with any of the others, but he had not really had the time to conduct a full search. That would have to wait for another day.

By the time he finished it was half past three. His stomach growling, he Apparated to the entry way to St. Mungo's. He stumbled on arrival, and crashed into a set of cardboard boxes, waking up a homeless man sleeping there. He retreated swiftly, aware of how close he had come to violating the International Statute of Secrecy. He doubted that he would be shown any leniency.

Passing through St. Mungo's, he arrived at Sorrel's, and was told that he would have to wait until four o'cock, for Quadrille and company to have their allotted afternoon tea break. Four o'clock duly arrived, and Remus raced through the corridors trying to find them. They were once more sitting in the 'garden'.

"Remus," said Timothy Hardin. "What are you doing here again? Can't keep away?"

"Hi guys," said Remus, once he had recovered his breath. "I wanted to check that you were all okay after yesterday."

Timothy answered straight away, tapping the side of his nose, "I don't think they managed to find my house." Remus looked at him curiously, and then nodded slowly. Timothy must have moved, or made up an address; he had always been paranoid about the Werewolf Registry holding too much information on him. With good reason, it appeared.

Methuselah Smith harrumphed, and said, "It was hardly unexpected, Lupin, what with everything that's been going on. My only surprise is that this didn't happen earlier."

Timothy turned to look at him, "What, always look on the bright side of life, don't you? Grumpy old codger."

"Watch your mouth, you little varmint." Timothy and Methuselah started to argue.

Quadrille smiled thinly and waved Remus over to sit by him. "I was really lucky, Remus. My name wasn't on that list. I guess they only leaked certain parts of the Registry."

"Yeah, I guess so." Remus tried to sound convincing, as he doubted that particular proposition. "Why, who else was missing?"

"Well, I don't know every werewolf in the country, but of the ones that I do know, erm, Methuselah, Jonquil Butterfield, Edwina something-or-other, Marcus Flint, you know that lad that works here sometimes. Not this time, but last month he was here. Who else? Peter Coggins, he's that young Muggle usually in the cell four or so doors down from us." He paused, thinking. "That's all I can think of."

Remus nodded, and was about to reply when one of the nurses came in, and ordered the three attendants back to work. Remus left quickly, and decided to take the bus back to Tonks' house. He was a little worried that he might splinch himself if he Apparated again. On the way back, he noted down all of the names that Quadrille had given him. Unless he was mistaken, they had all often been forced to work at Sorrel's to pay for their monthly ration of Wolfsbane. Pondering that thought, Remus made it to 54 Mulligan Street on autopilot.

Calvin let him in, and even seemed quite pleased to see him. "I wondered where you'd been all day." Calvin looked at him a bit more closely. "Crikey, you look done in, Mr. Lupin. Sit down and I'll get you a cup of tea."

Remus collapsed into a chair with great relief, and was profoundly grateful when Calvin brought him not only a cup of tea, but a selection of biscuits as well. He tore into them like a ravenous wolf.

Calvin smirked, and said, "Dinner will probably be at about six. Do you want anything before then?"

Remus shook his head as he swallowed. "Six o'clock should be fine."

"Well, I'll leave you to recover then." With that, Calvin disappeared.

At ten to five, the fire suddenly roared up, and Tonks marched through. Remus, who had fallen into a slight doze, jerked up and looked round in alarm at the noise. Tonks was a picture of fury, clenching her fists and looking like she badly needed a door to slam. She said tightly, "Remus." It was intended to be a greeting.

Calvin had obviously heard something, as he dashed back into the living room. "Hi Tonks. Bad day at the office?"

"Bad day? Bad day? Just about the worst." Tonks started to pace up and down in front of the fire. Remus could see her skin flexing and shifting, as if it wanted to morph. He had never seen Tonks this agitated, not even when they had argued. Tonks started to speak again. "They took me off the damn project. Said that the case had become too high profile. Apparenty I don't have the 'authority', someone 'like me' won't inspire confidence in the public. No, I have to go and investigate, Merlin knows what, cursed Muggle toilets or something." There was a brief pause, but before either Remus or Calvin could come up with something to say, Tonks was off again. "And then they've only gone and put Euan Abercrombie in my spot. Some wet-behind-the-ears newbie."

Calvin said, a tad hesitantly, "I'm sorry, Tonks." He half-smiled. "Curse of the Blacks and all that."

She laughed shakily. "I just don't understand. I put the hours in. I get results, more than most. But every time that I get close to a big time case! Every time I get something important ... Pfft – it just disappears. Curse of the Blacks is about right. Look at us all, Sirius, Bella, you, Draco. The most noble and ancient house of Black. Rotten as a dead tree." Tonks' voice was rising. "I wonder if I would have made it if I hadn't had all this stupid baggage."

Remus was by now feeling quite uncomfortable, and shrank backwards. Calvin said, "Of course you'd make it. You're a great Auror. And you're only half a Black."

Tonks snapped right back at him. "Half a Black! You can't be half a Black. Look at you – you're all Black, even if your name's Lestrange."

"It's not as if I asked for that to be my name."

"Well, you could make something of it. Do something with your life, instead of wasting it away in that fool pub."

Calvin's face shut down and he suddenly looked very scary. "I've tried. I've tried plenty of times. It's not my fault that your stupid world doesn't want anything to do with me." It was said very calmly.

"No, you just mope around here, thinking of what might have been. Well, it didn't happen ..."

"It might have if you hadn't messed things up." Calvin's voice was like ice.

"Oh come on. You didn't give her a chance, did you? Just walked away."

"Yeah. I know when I'm not wanted." And with that, Calvin turned on his heel and walked out.

Tonks sighed and sat down, putting her head in her hands, and remarking sarcastically, "Well, that went well." She leaned back with her eyes shut. When she opened them, she saw Remus and jumped. "Remus! You, er, saw all of that?" She looked rather embarrassed.

Remus nodded, equally embarrassed. "Erm, what was all that about?"

"Oh, ancient history." She smiled weakly. "He'd hate it if I told you. Basically, about a year and a half after he moved in here, I screwed up big time." She sighed again. "He never gets really mad. He just goes all cold. I wish he would shout sometimes. I think it would do him the power of good."

"Mmmm." Remus remained non-committal. Truth be told, he was a little shocked. He had never seen Tonks lose control like that before.

Tonks laughed at that. A bitter, angry laugh, but still a laugh. "Oh man. I thought I was making progress as well, with the case. The report on Quadrille Beaufort had just arrived, but now I guess it'll be Euan who flicks through it, trying to work out what possible relevance it has. I'd managed to track down a Muggle police report on abandoned children."

She snapped her fingers, trying to transport herself out of the funk she was in. "Well, I think I've got things to do. I don't want to start shouting at you, Remus! See you at dinner." She jumped to her feet and walked out. Remus shook his head and waited, rather nervously, for dinner.

Tonks called Remus into the kitchen about an hour later, where she was serving up some kind of meat covered in a strange-looking purple sauce. Remus looked at it with concern. Calvin was already seated at the table, and he smirked at Remus' look of suspicion. "Don't worry, Mr. Lupin. This is devilled chicken à la Tonks."

Tonks chirped in, "My own extra-special recipe."

Remus said, "I should I have guessed from the colour."

Calvin said, "Don't judge by appearances. It's fantastic." He glanced sideways at his cousin. "It's the only thing she can cook."

"Oh shush you," said Tonks, pretending to tap his head with the serving spoon. They all sat down to eat and Remus observed his hosts closely. They were acting as if the argument in the living-room had never taken place.

He said, "That _was_ pretty nice after all."

Tonks laughed. "Complete accident. I was trying to make something else, chicken in mustard sauce, back when I was in Auror training, and I mixed in some red wine instead of white. It came out this great purple colour. Looks totally unappetizing. But when I tasted it, I knew it was alright." She started to clear up the dishes. "So, shall we all head out to the _Green Dragon_? I wonder how, ah, Bobby's getting along? What time's your shift start, Cal?"

And just like that, Remus found himself ensconced at the bar of the _Green Dragon_ again, this time with Tonks for company. She seemed much more herself now, and spent most of the evening chatting with Bobby and Cal, and occasionally some of the other regulars.

At one point, Bobby said, "Hey, Mr. Lupin, you're very quiet. What's up?"

Remus opened his mouth, but could not think of anything to say. Calvin grinned, and reached over the bar to hug Tonks with one arm. "Tonks and I had a big fight – I think Mr. Lupin's still in shock."

Bobby covered his mouth in shock horror. "You two had a fight? Never. I don't believe it."

"Oh shush, you," said Tonks, ineffectually.

Calvin said in a stage-whisper, "She had a really bad day at work, and needed to yell at someone." He squeezed Tonks' shoulders and pulled away. "And if you can't yell at your family, who can you yell at." He looked at Remus for a second as he said that.

"Indeed," said Tonks. She reached over and patted Calvin's elbow.

Remus shook his head and hoped that it was true.


	8. The British Museum

The next morning, Tonks was still in the kitchen when Remus got up. Remus found a loaf of bread and cut off a couple of slices to put in the toaster. "I would never have guessed that you would have so much Muggle stuff!"

Tonks shrugged. "It means I don't have to bother about all those household spells. Both Molly Weasley and my Mum were always pretty certain I should avoid using them. Plus, it's easier if Muggles come round."

"Does that happen often?"

"No, but you never know."

Remus thought about that. Tonks said, "So, you said yesterday that three of the people in the list in the _Prophet_ yesterday are now dead."

"Yeah." Remus turned as the toast popped out and started to butter it.

"Tom Stannard, Marcus Channings and Dorothy Dantan." She swallowed a mouthful of tea. "But all of the others who are not in their houses are okay. I'll see what comes in about those three. Thanks for doing all that work yesterday Remus. None of those people would ever tell an an Auror half as much of that."

"Will there be an investigation?"

"That depends. The guy running the operation is Cicero Scrimgeour. He's not as competent as his Dad, Rufus, but he's cut from the same cloth." She smirked. "He's been an Auror for about twenty-five years, and has been stuck as a Detective Diviner for most of those. He also doesn't like werewolves, but not for any personal reason as far as I know."

"Is that why you got rid of me so quick out on Ilkley Moor?"

"Yeah. As it is about werewolves, he was put on the _Daily Prophet_ stuff too – synthesis. My guess is that the names will be put down as missing. I don't think there will be any investigations. Not under Cicero, at least."

Remus sighed and bit into his toast. Swallowing slowly, he said, "I didn't know them. Well, I'd met Marcus at Sorrel's. The others I've never met, but I'll try and find their families and let them know. They all lived alone." He took a second bite of toast, and chewed it far too long. The task did not appeal.

Tonks sensed his reservations. "That would be really good of you, Remus. If one of the relatives makes a request, the Aurors would have to take the case. I'll speak to the guys I was working with, and see if I can push them in that direction. Now, you said that there were several names missing on the list, and that they were people who are forced to work at Sorrel's all the time to cover their treatment?"

Remus nodded. He felt as tired out by this conversation as if he had never slept.

Tonks said, "I'll try and get hold of a copy of the real Registry list."

Remus was a bit confused. "But I thought you'd been taken off the case?"

Tonks smiled ferally. "Yeah, I have." Remus frowned, and she continued, "There are a couple of leads that need following up, and Cicero isn't going to put anyone onto it. Especially if it was my idea."

"Won't you get into trouble?"

Tonks ran a hand through her hair and smiled winsomely. "Me, get into trouble?" Remus flushed.

"Right," said Tonks. "Now, you're sure that the werewolf at the crime is Quadrille Beaufort, but that he doesn't remember anything about it. Now, when you're under Wolfsbane, you remember stuff better? Is that right?"

Remus squirmed a little. The transformation was not a subject he liked. "Normally you have a bit more control over the wolf under Wolfsbane. But it can be really difficult to remember any details. It's like a dream. Before the wolk would control it. Now, you control the dream. But, just like a dream, it all fades away in the morning. Sometimes you remember what happened. Other times no. More than likely, no."

"So, you're not surprised that Quadrille claims not to remember?"

"No. He certainy didn't act as if he knew anything."

"If we assume that you are correct about him, the question then is how did he get out, and why. Plus, Ilkley Moor is a long way from London."

Remus said quietly, "And how the wolf took control."

Tonks shook her head. "Just because the man was in control, doesn't mean he couldn't attack people. Look at Fenrir Greyback, after all."

Remus put his hand flat on the table and tried to curb his anger. He said quietly, "I know Quadrille; at least I know him well enough to know that he would _not_ attack children. He hates being a werewolf, and he dotes on his daughter. He would not have done this if he were in his own mind."

Tonks said, firmly, "Remus, the first thing you learn on this job is that you never know what is really going on inside people. But, I'll grant you that it's something else to consider, that the wolf was in control. Could he have missed taking the Wolfsbane, or could it have been off?"

Remus shrugged. "He couldn't have missed his dose. The people at Sorrel's always triple check, and I saw him drink it. It probably came from the same batch as mine."

"So, did you notice anything odd about it?"

"No, it tasted the same as it does every time."

Tonks tapped her lips, and then glanced at the clock. "Merlin, it's five to nine. I'd better get to the office, or they'll have my guts for garters." She surged up and banged her knee painfully on the table. Wincing in pain, she hopped over to her bag, blew a stage kiss at Remus and Apparated out. Remus shook his head in amusement at the brief glimpse of a younger Tonks and finished off his toast.

It took Remus the better part of an eventful morning to find the names and addresses of family members. The Channings were a small family based near Exeter. The Dantans were a larger, more ancient, clan with several branches all over the country. Remus Floo-called one of the names listed in the Green Parchments and got through to an imperious looking fellow, Edmund Dantan. Remus was expecting a rebuff, but the older man recognized him on sight and revealed that he was Dorothy's father. He invited Remus to visit after lunch if convenient.

The hardest of the three was Stannard, a Muggleborn. Remus had visited the local Muggle library to try and find a telephone number in the equivalents of the Green Parchments. There was a long list of names, so Remus performed several quick copying spells when no one was looking. He knew that a spell existed that could be used in such cases to identify relatives, but he did not know the incantation. With a sigh he walked back to Tonks' house and apparated to a locked toilet in King's Cross train station. After listening a few moments for any nearby Muggles, he nipped out, locking the door with a spell on his way out.

From there it was a short walk to the British Museum. To wizarding eyes, there was several more level, underground. When the Museum had been renovated, it had been a great problem as the works had touched the wizarding book stacks located there. It had been a great problem at the time, and Remus had volunteered along with many other wizards to help move all of the books. Even with the _Colloportus_ spell it had still taken a lot of wizard hours.

The wizarding area was not as grand as the Muggle part, dominated by the sweeping, great, stairway. In fact, it was rather cramped. The study area was brimming with people. Remus set about finding the spell that he was looking for, and after selecting several works, pulled up a free chair at a table. There was one other occupant there, bent over her parchment, bushy hair pulled back into a thick ponytail. She did not look up when Remus sat down, as her quill was racing over the parchment.

Remus started to look through his books. After about twenty minutes or so, the girl's writing came to a pause, and she looked up, staring into the middle distance, lost in thought. Remus glanced at her, and then looked back. It was Hermione Granger. He stared at her for a moment, long enough for her to sense it and to pull her out of her reverie.

She gasped when she looked at him, and then guiltily put her hand in front of her mouth as other users looked over sharply. She leaned forward excitedly, and said, "Professor Lupin! It's been such a long time. How are you?" She glanced around, noticing the dirty looks that were being thrown at her, and then said, "Do you want to get a cup of tea or something? If that won't disturb your work, of course."

Remus looked at her and smiled helplessly. "It would be my pleasure, Hermione."

They both gathered up their things, leaving their books on the tables in neat piles for when they returned, and went outside. Remus was rather surprised when Hermione moved out of the wizarding portion, into the Muggle cafe. She noticed his expression and said, "The tea's much better here than in the wizard cafe. And the cakes as well!"

They both ordered a cup of tea, and sat at a table a little way away from any other customers. Hermione smiled broadly, and said, "It's been so long, Professor. How on earth are you?"

Remus shrugged nonchalantly, "I'm okay. But please, you mustn't call me Professor. It's been an awfully long time since I was your Professor. Call me Remus."

"I'll try," said Hermione dubiously, "but it's rather difficult to break certain habits. I've been reading all these terrible things in the _Prophet_. And all the new laws and everything. Are you sure that is everything okay?" She squinted at him, as if trying to draw the truth out of him.

"Well, I won't say it's been easy. Still, we do what we can."

"You should speak to Harry. He might be able to do something. Although I suppose you have to make all of the Wizengamot see sense, and that can be difficult."

Remus shrugged again. "I spoke to him a while back, and he did the best that he could."

"You spoke to him recently? How is he?" She was very intense, Remus noted. Her youthful energy was wearing him down.

"Oh, about eight months ago. He seemed fine; a little busy. But don't you keep in touch?"

Hermione looked away uncomfortably. "Not so much recently. Well, not since I broke up with Ron, at any rate."

Remus' jaw dropped. "You broke up with Ron?"

Before he could say anything further, Hermione's face grew blank. "Yeah, a while ago now."

It was clear that she did not want to talk about it, and so Remus suppressed his surprise and moved to another topic. "So what are you working on these days? What brings you to these fine halls?" He gestured round the room.

Hermione obviously appreciated his change of subject, and she became more animated, although it seemed a little forced to Remus. "Well, after school, I concentrated on Charms, to break the curse that was left on all of the teachers. So, I decided to use that expertise to try and work on a few other problems, develop some new spells maybe." Remus was watching her closely, and saw that her smile had dipped slightly, and she was staring off to the left, to the wall. She turned back to him and her smile returned in force. "At the moment I'm working on an adaptation to the Point Me charm to add a distance indicator."

"That sounds interesting."

Hermione snorted. "Yeah, I'll bet. Tell anyone about the details and they fall asleep in ten seconds flat. So, what are you doing at the moment, Remus?" She tested the name carefully.

"Oh, this and that. At the moment, my situation is a little precarious, as you might imagine." He smiled and chuckled lightly. "Im trying to track down some of my friends, as I am a bit worried about reprisals over that list."

Hermione looked concerned. "There were attacks? I didn't read anything about that, but I guess that the _Prophet_ wouldn't mention anything like that."

"No," Remus shook his head. He had not looked at the most recent copies of the _Daily Prophet_. "It wouldn't. But yes, there were attacks. In fact, I was the victim of one."

"Dear Merlin, Remus. Are you okay? What happened?" Hermione reached forward and covered his hand.

He smiled. "I'm fine. I was just summarily evicted from my house by some of the local residents."

Hermione looked at him carefully, obviously not trusting his joking tone. She pulled her hands back and rested her chin on them. "Where are you staying? If you need a place, or anything else, just let me know. I've got a small flat in Kentish Town, not too far from here, with a sofa-bed in the living-room."

"Thanks for the offer, but I'm staying with Nymphadora Tonks."

"Tonks! Another person I haven't seen in I don't know how long. How is she? Are you two...?" She left the question dangling, not wanting to cause offence.

Remus said, "No. I bumped into her quite by accident, and she offered me a place to stay whilst things settle down."

Hermione said in an arch tone, "Well, I'm sure she'll be very glad to have you there on a regular basis."

Remus blushed and waved his hand ineffectually in the air. "I don't know what you mean."

Hermione laughed. "Of course you don't. Anyway, why does looking for your friends bring you here? Can I be of any assistance?"

"One of the guys is a Muggle. I've got a list of Muggle telephone numbers for people with the same surname from the Yellow Pages, but it is rather large. I know that there is a spell I can use to get blood relations of someone from a list of names, but I couldn't remember the details. Hence, my presence here."

Hermione grinned infectiously. "Well, you came to the right place. I actually looked at that spell quite recently, as part of my research on this thing with the Point Me charm. I thought that it might me some pointers as to what the principles of the spells were. It didn't help much, but the incantation is_ Sanguis Nominus_ and then the name of the person you know. You have to identify them as well, by an address if you have one, or by some such means. You have to flick the wand tip to the upper right and then circle back quickly to bottom left as you say the '_No'_. Then after you've said the identifying name you tap the parchment you want searching."

She paused. "It'll probably be easier if we go back downstairs and we can do it together."

Remus thought that that sounded like a much better idea and said so. They finished their drinks and headed back downstairs. Remus told Hermione the name and address of Tom Stannard, without mentioning that he was dead, and she quickly performed the spell. Three names glowed, and were then written in a fey blue light above the parchment for several seconds. Remus whipped out his quill and put a cross next to the highlighted names.

"Thanks so much, Hermione. I don't know what I would have done without you!"

She patted his arm. "I didn't do anything – you'd have found it out pretty quick. You'd better go and check up on your friend. I can put your books on the return shelf for you. It was really great to see you again, Prof- ah Remus."

"And you too, Hermione."

She said firmly, "And you must promise to keep in touch. We should have lunch together sometime. You can send me an owl, my address is 101 Leverton Street. It's warded to safely receive owls without Muggle issues. Or else, you can find me here most mornings."

Remus said, "Of course. It was a pleasure to see you again."

She stopped his with a stern look. "I mean it Remus. Don't just disappear into the woodwork again. I'm your friend, and if you have any problems, then I _want_ to help. I also don't want the next time I hear about you to be when you're on the front of the _Daily Prophet_ for the gods know what reason. I was so worried when there was all that stuff about the Muggle school."

Remus stood still, desperately wanting to be elsewhere. Some of that desire must have communicated itself to Hermione, and she stepped away. "You'd better get going, but I mean it Remus. If you don't get in touch, I'll ask Tonks. I should do that anyway." She nodded her head, and said, "Good luck, Professor."

Remus mumbled a goodbye, and then turned away, walking uncommonly fast.


	9. Into The Dragon's Den

Remus had found a public Muggle telephone box. Unfortunately, there were very few of the red cubicles left – most of them were now clear plastic, with the British Telecom logo embazoned on the door. Remus felt much more exposed in them. He dug out some Muggle change and called the three names on his list. To his surprise, all of them denied any knowledge of a Tom Stannard. They all made this denial without hesitation.

Remus could not think of any further avenue for this particular search for the moment, and decided to discuss it with Tonks that evening. As it was nearing lunchtime, he bought a sandwich at a small cafe and considered his plan for the afternoon. He had arranged to go to the Dantans at three thirty, which meant that after lunch he would have to visit the Channings straight away. He tried to remember if Marcus had ever said anything about his family, but he had only met him a couple of times, and they had never exchanged more than pleasantries.

Accordingly, he Apparated to a spot in Exeter that he knew, and walked a couple of miles to get to the Channings house. It was a rather large detached house, with reasonable gardens. It was also wrapped with a Muggle repelling charm. Remus walked up to the door and knocked. An old gentleman opened the door after several minutes, and blinked in confusion. "Good afternoon, young sir. How may I be of assistance?"

"Good afternoon. My name is Remus Lupin, and ..." Remus did not get any further.

"I know that name. You're one of those werewolves aren't you? No denying it; I can see it in your face." The old man drew himself up. "Please leave, or I shall be forced to summon the Aurors."

Remus swallowed and wrapped his hands together behind his back. "Please, sir. I'm here to talk to you about your son, Marcus."

The old man interrupted again, harshly. "I have no son." He moved to shut the door, but Remus dashed forward, slapping his hand on the wood to stop it from shutting.

"Mr. Channings, I am afraid that I have to tell you that your son is dead."

The old man snarled at him. "My son died a long time ago. Now, good day to you." And with that, he slammed the door in Remus' face.

Remus stayed in front of the door for a long moment, and then walked away, staring at the ground. His hands were trembling.

The Dantans were rather more welcoming. Edmund Dantan invited Remus in immediately, and even offered him a small glass of sherry, which Remus declined. Perched on the sofa, Remus said, "I am afraid that I am the bearer of bad news. I am extremely sorry to have to tell you that Dorothy is dead."

Edmund closed his eyes, and reached out to hold his wife's hand. After several seconds he looked up and Remus saw tears in his eyes. "We suspected as much when she didn't get in touch after her name appeared in the paper. Thank you for coming to tell us." He paused and looked away, overcome with grief.

Remus waited in uncomfortable silence, and then Mrs. Dantan said, "Did you know Dorothy at all, Mr. Lupin?"

"I'm afraid to say that I never had the pleasure."

"Oh. I thought you all had to go to Sorrel's Institution." Mrs. Dantan waved her hand vaguely, evidently avoiding the word 'werewolf'.

"Indeed, Mrs. Dantan. However, it is a large place, and I never saw her there."

"She mentioned your name a couple of times, you know. She thought you were very brave to keep pushing against the Ministry." That was Mr. Dantan.

Remus looked away. "I have accomplished very little, Mr. Dantan."

Mrs. Dantan said, "But you used to teach at Hogwarts, if I remember correctly, didn't you?"

Remus nodded, and then Mr. Dantan said, "Old Albus Dumbledore always had a fine word to say about you."

Remus looked up at that, the question obvious in his eyes. Before he could voice it, Mr. Dantan said, "Please, Mr. Lupin, tell us what you know of our daughter's death."

Remus nodded shakily. "I decided to check up on all of the names on that list, and to try to find out all that I could. Dorothy was not at her house, and it had clearly been ransacked by some of the locals. I asked around, and it became clear that she was dead, although whether by accident or wilful intent I do not know. After I had confirmed this from several people I did not stay to look for the body. Please forgive me."

Mr. Dantan smiled a rictus grin. "Don't talk nonsense, young man. I imagine that you did not want to stay there any longer than necessary." He glanced over at his wife and nodded. "We shall make the necessary arrangements, and I will push for a full investigation. I may no longer be on the Wizengamot, but I still have some pull at the Ministry."

Mrs. Dantan looked at Remus. "Thank you so much for coming to tell us this. It cannot have been easy for you. Our daughter was very important to us, and when she was afflicted during the war it was a terrible moment for us. However, she soon recovered, and seemed to be enjoying her life." She wiped away tears from her eyes.

Remus shuffled, feeling like a small boy, and said, "If you need any further information, please do not hesitate to get in touch. I did not know Dorothy personally, but I know many other visitors to Sorrel's, who might have known her."

"Thank you, Mr. Lupin," said Mr. Dantan gravely. "It may prove useful to have other information on others with your condition who were attacked at some point." He stood up, and Remus quickly matched him. "Well, I imagine that you have many other demands on your time, Mr. Lupin. I will be in touch."

He escorted Remus to the door, and closed it firmly. As Remus Apparated away he thought he heard a wail of grief from behind the door.

Tonks arrived home just as Calvin was serving dinner. Cal observed solemnly, "In the nick of time, I see."

She grinned, shrugged off her coat and pulled up a chair. Remus sat down opposite her, feeling a little stiff. She picked up her fork and twirled it round her fingers. Remus watched the sharp object carefully. "Friday night; always a good night. So, Cal, are you still off out tomorrow then?"

He nodded, but said no more. Tonks suddenly plunged her fork into the meat and potato pie on the plate rather exuberantly. Remus and Cal both flinched, and then glanced at each other sheepishly, before grinning slightly. Well, more of a smirk on Calvin's die, Remus decided. Remus then elected to take on the conversation. "Good day at work, honey?" He raised his eyebrow, letting humour bleed into the final word.

Tonks batted her eyelashes at him like a Muggle film star. "Why dearest, I didn't know you cared."

Remus flushed slightly, and then Tonks laughed. "I'm sorry Remus, I couldn't resist."

Remus shot a look at Calvin and was most put out to see the boy smirking even more.

Tonks tried to talk over the awkward moment. "I did, actually. Well, I was put to work on some smuggling cases, with Cassandra Jones. Apparently there's quite the lively trade in magical ingredients at the moment. That was so so. At lunch, I headed round to see some of my colleagues from the werewolf investigation, whilst Cicero wasn't looking, of course!

"Anyway, a couple of them weren't so happy that I'd been turfed off the case, which made me feel a bit better about it all. So, I tried to point them in the right direction, and got a promise from one of them to check up on all the names on that list a bit more carefully. I also mentioned to another chap, Sam Argyle, that I'd had a possible tip off about Quadrille Beaufort that I hadn't put down in the notes, and he said he'd check it out. Sam's a good lad, so I know he won't jump to any assumptions and put your friend in any undue danger.

"And then," Tonks paused briefly to eat a mouthful of pie. "And then, I flicked through the dossier on Quadrille that I managed to get hold of, but I didn't really pick anything up there. So, I nipped over to the Department of Magical Creatures at tea break time, and with a judicious bit of morphing, managed to duplicate a copy of the official list! I've got it right here – we can have a look after dinner. How's that for a day's work?"

Remus just looked at her. Finally, he said, "Wasn't that a bit dangerous? What if you'd been caught?"

Tonks shrugged disarmingly. "I wasn't. Nobody will ever know." She swallowed another mouthful of pie. "And how was your day, Remus?"

Remus sighed. "Not as good as yours, that's for sure. Tom Stannard apparently doesn't exist, and Marcus Channings' family are apparently quite glad that he doesn't any more. The Dantans were verysorry to hear about Dorothy, though. I think that they might try to open an investigation. Edmund Dantan used to be a member of the Wizengamot, apparently."

Tonks peered at him, and then said, "I'm sorry you had to do that, Remus."

"No worries. Somebody had to." He paused and chewed slowly, staring at his plate, before remembering a brighter moment. "Oh, and I bumped into Hermione Granger in the library!" If he had been looking up, he would have seen Tonks throw a quick glance at Calvin. "I'd gone to the Wizard Library to check something out, and there she was. So we had a cup of tea and chatted for a little while. I have to say, it was good to see her again. She was as full of energy as she ever was."

"That certainly sounds like Hermione," said Tonks. "What's she working on at the moment?"

"She said that she was doing some research on the Point Me charm, if I remember correctly. Actually, she didn't really say all that much about it," replied Remus.

Calvin said, "Well, I imagine that it's a bit of a let down after cracking the Comatose Curse."

Neither Remus nor Tonks were quite sure what to say to that, and there was a brief pause before Remus said, "She told me that she and Ron had split up. That was a bit of surprise for me! I thought they were a perfect match."

Tonks stared at Remus for a moment in total surprise. "Remus! That was ages ago. Where on Earth have you been, man? Or do you just ignore the newspapers or something? That was, like, two, three _years_ ago."

Remus held his hands in front of him. "Hey, calm down. Sometimes I just miss out on the news for a couple of weeks."

"Couple of weeks, couple of months, couple of years. You're always disappearing, Remus! Why don't you try letting someone help you for a change?" Tonks was not shouting, but it seemed like it to Remus.

Remus looked away and waited a few moments. When he looked back, Tonks was also looking away. Calvin was looking distinctly uncomfortable. Tonks turned back to face Remus and said, "Sorry, mate. It's just that you do the stupidest things sometimes." She tried to grin, but it did not really work.

Remus cleared his throat, and said, rather lamely, "So, what happened between Ron and Hermione?"

Tonks took the olive branch. "Well, you know that they were engaged, right? Well, Hermione was working on finding a counter-charm for the Comatose Curse that the Hogwarts teachers had been hit with, in the last battle. It took her, what, four years?"

Calvin nodded, and said in a voice like granite, "Four years."

"Right, four years. So, they're all awake, and Ron proposes to her the day after or something like that. It was front page news at the time."

Remus nodded, "Yes, I remember all of that." He was remembering something else as well: holding Tonks after the last battle and saying repeatedly that it would all be alright now.

"Good, I'm glad that you were paying attention at some point." Tonks' voice interrupted his reverie. "So, as Calvin said, what do you do as an encore? Somehow, I can't quite see Point Me charms as the next big thing, but, hey, I'm just a beat-plodding Auror."

"You never know what the future will hold," murmured Remus.

"Quite," said Tonks rather snippily. "Right, Ron was working as an Auror then, and doing a pretty fine job if I may say so. He'd already been promoted to Detective Diviner. Then, what happened next? Let me see, there was the retrial, and then Severus Snape fell ill. That's got to be unlucky. You get released from the Comatose Curse, only to get some serious wasting sickness. He's still alive somewhere, you know, trapped in St. Mungo's."

Remus said, "There's plenty of people who would say that it was better than he deserved. After all, he did kill Albus."

Tonks looked over at Calvin. "Well, I'm not one of them. And Moody spoke up for Snape at his trial. If in the most scathing terms. That's got to count for something."

"Yes, well," said Remus, coldly. "This is a bit off topic, don't you think?"

Tonks seemed puzzled for a moment, and then recalled their discussion. "Right, Ron, and Hermione. So, about a month after Snape fell ill, Britain won their World Cup qualifying match. And two weeks after that, Ron and Hermione split up. The word on the street was that Ron wanted Hermione to give up her research, and settle down. Have kids. You know the kind of things couples do. But she wasn't ready to do that just then, and Ron didn't want to wait any longer. So he left her. But, who really knows what happens inside a couple? Not me, that's for sure."

"That doesn't really sound like the Ron or Hermione that I remember," said Remus thoughtfully. Tonks rolled her eyes with exasperation. "Well, Hermione maybe, wanting to continue with her research. Still, funnier things have happened, I suppose."

Tonks looked at him with her eyes slitted, and Calvin stood up suddenly. "Well, time for tea. You two head into the living room and I'll put the kettle on and clean up in here." Remus stayed seated at the table for a moment longer, remembering.


	10. Two Interludes

**Interlude A – A Memory of Sunshine**

They had both been young, Tonks particularly, when Remus had promised, in the ashes of victory, that everything would be okay, but only two years later everything had gone wrong.

Tonks had sat down at the table, in her old flat in London, and had looked at Remus nervously. "Remus, we need to talk." Her hair had been a bright, electric blue, the colour she knew that he liked.

However, Remus had been feeling on edge, and so had snapped back, "Oh really? I thought that was all we ever did?"

Tonks had flinched at that, but had then reached forward to take his hands. "Look, we've discussed this before; I want to have kids, Remus." They had discussed it before; many times in fact.

He had turned his head sharply, not wanting to look at her. Through a clenched jaw he said, "I can't give them to you, Tonks." And it was true; any chidren of his would, in all likelihood, be similarly afflicted with lycanthropy, if he were even able to father any. Most werewolves were sterile. Even worse, there was the risk of infecting Tonks herself.

"We could adopt, Remus. You'd make a great dad, and you know it."

Remus had remained staring at the wall, and felt the prick of a tear develop in one eye. He would have loved to be a father. "There's too much risk, Tonks. I couldn't put a child in that kind of danger, even if the Ministry would allow it."

She was squeezing his hands, but he still avoided her gaze. "I'm sure we could sort something out, Remus. We've got friends in high places, after all."

He had finally looked back at her, and had seen the worry in her face, and the anxiety. She deserved to have her own children, he thought, of her own blood. Certainly her Metamorphmagi talents ought to be passed down. His thoughts had solidified, until he knew what he had to do. But even then, he had remained a coward. "I can't put my name to an application like that. I won't endanger a small child."

"Merlin, Remus! You taught at Hogwarts."

"Yes, under strict security, and all of the children were older. And even then, something went wrong." He had paused, and then decided to bring one of his secrets into play. "When I was a student at Hogwarts, I nearly infected Severus Snape."

Tonks had been shocked by that. "You did?"

"I could never forgive myself if something like that happened to a child entrusted to my care."

Tonks had pulled her hands away slowly, and then stared at him as if she had never seen him before. "You're not going to change your mind, are you?"

As he shook his head negatively, she had sighed, and then said, "Then that's it, Remus. I guess ... I guess we'll just have to go our separate ways."

"I guess so, yes." It had cost Remus a lot to say that calmly. Looking at Tonks, he suspected that it had cost her a lot to ask.

Remus remembered little of the rest of the conversation, only that he had left soon after, being very polite. He had gone to his little house, and sat on the cold stone floor. All of his fine, noble, reasons for letting her go tasted like ashes in his mouth.

**Interlude B – No Smoke Without Fire**

The Ministry of Magic was quiet. Most of the staff had gone home for the weekend, and only a few keen workers remained, mostly scribbling away at their desks. One, however, was sitting at his broad desk, looking at the painting in front of him. With a weary sigh, he kicked his feet up and put them to rest on the desk, leaning backwards.

"Get in here, Percy. I've no time to waste."

At his stern tones, a young, red-haired man inched into the picture frame. "Good evening, sir."

"Percy, report." The man in the chair said nothing more.

"Well, sir, I have nothing to report from the Auror offices. Nymphadora Tonks was seen talking to some of the people from the werewolf case, but as far as my colleague could hear, nothing of importance was discussed. Down in the Department of Mysteries, Jason Cartwright, from Magical Creatures, was there all afternoon, discussing the unicorn problem with one of the Unspeakables. I did not hear any other topic of conversation. In Misuse of Muggle Artifacts nothing to report. Kimberley Arrott was absent again." The painted Percy's lip curled in contempt. "Susan Bones was being _highly_ efficient in the Statute of Secrecy offices, finishing off the prosecution case against Dedalus Diggle."

The man in the chair interrupted. "Who is running the defence?"

"An outside lawyer. I believe his name is Torrance Dorfaux."

"I know of him. He used to work for Zabini, on her numerous divorce cases."

"Quite. In my opinion, Susan's case is watertight, although you may be interested to hear that a couple of the more long-in-the-tooth residents of that office are not best pleased. I think that one of them, possibly Brutus Channings, might decide to do something rash.

"I will take that into consideration, Percy. Please continue."

"In International Affairs, nothing to report. Oh, except that old Stuart was grumbling about our negotiating stance on the Floo Powder issue. He was saying that we were being 'unreasonable'. Laurel was keeping an eye on Magical Creatures. She said that Jason Cartwright made a copy of the werewolf register in the afternoon. She also said that Silvia Roberts was showing signs of empathy with the current centaur bargaining position..."

"Stop," said the man in the chair. "Did you say that Jason Cartwright copied the werewolf register?"

"That's what Laurel said. Her main painting is actually in the Werewolf Registry, you know."

"Yes, thank you, Percy, I know. I arranged that myself." He glared sharply at the forlorn portrait of Percy. "But didn't you just say that Mr. Cartwright was with the Unspeakables all afternoon?"

Percy looked momentarily confused. "Yes. I was watching him myself. He was there from two-thirty through till ten to five."

"When did Laurel see him?"

"I am not sure – she just said the afternoon."

"Please check on that. I have a suspicion that someone might be trying to sneak around under our noses." The man leaned back in his chair and smiled lazily. "You're dismissed, Percy. Nice work."


	11. Saturday Night

Saturday proved to be a rather strange day. On the Friday night, Remus had put aside his memories, and looked at the Werewolf Register that Tonks had stolen. It had approximately twenty more names on it that the list published in the _Daily Prophet_. Remus had recognized enough of the names on that list to guess that all of them worked at Sorrel's to pay for their Wolfsbane and lodging at the full moon. However, as Tonks had pointed out, that applied to several of the names that had been published in the _Prophet_ as well. On that inconclusive note, they had both retired for the night.

Remus had dallied in bed on the Saturday morning, reluctant to get up and face the world. He eventually made it downstairs, to find Tonks sitting at the kitchen table with a swathe of papers in front of her, a pen gripped between her teeth. He also noted that her hair had changed from her now-customary dark brown to a redder shade. He stood in the doorway for a few moments, spying on her as she wrestled with some idea.

She took the pen in her hand and started to scribble furiously on a piece of white paper, and then sighed and looked up, suddenly noticing Remus. She smiled enthusiastically. "Remus, you're up! I've just been doing a bit of brainstorming. Oh, Cal left some fresh bread over there before he went to work."

Remus settled for murmuring, "Morning, Tonks." He then sidled over to the sideboard to investigate the bread.

Tonks turned to watch him. "This was preying on my mind all last night and then this morning, I suddenly though – what if there's something in the Wolfsbane? You said it tasted sweeter, right? Compared to what you'd had before? Well, what if it's not doing what it's meant to?"

"That seems rather doubtful. I mean, I haven't suffered any funny transformations, and I've been taking the same potion as everyone else."

"Perhaps its not intentional. I don't know. But if the potion tastes different, that means that it has something else in it, right? I remember that much about potions."

Remus leaned back against the sideboard, trying to give the ridiculous idea some thought. "Well, I only tasted the potion previously when I was at Hogwarts, and it was made by Snape. As you might imagine, bearing in mind what I mentioned yesterday, he would not have been inclined to make anything that he had to give to me taste nice."

Tonks' face fell. "That's true enough. That does explain why he aways hated the sight of you, at any rate. But it's something that we should follow up. It's not as if there are a million and one leads anyway. Are there any books on Wolfsbane?"

"Not that I know of. It's a recent potion. But I daresay any master potion maker should be able to give details. There's one at the Ministry isn't there?"

"Yeah, but I can't ask him. I'm not supposed to be working on this case any more, and he'd report me straight away. There aren't all that many British master brewers at the moment. Probably because Snape was such a bad teacher. I'll have to think about that." She threw the pen on to the table in disgust, and chewed on her thumb for a few seconds before standing up. "Okay, I'll see you later Remus. Quidditch practice."

"Quidditch?"

"Yeah, I've been playing for a local London team in the local league for a while now. Practice or match on a Saturday afternoon when I can make it."

"Chaser?"

"Yep! Wouldn't want to play anywhere else."

"Good luck."

Tonks dashed about the house for a little while before leaving with a cheery, "See you later."

Once she had gone, Remus settled into the living room and decided to watch the WWN. It took some Floo powder to make the connection, but he figured that he could pay Tonks back later. He managed to catch the start of a new-ish adaptation of _Blood and Blindness_, a classic of 17th century wizarding literature.

That distracted him until Calvin returned home from the _Green Dragon_. He looked at Remus, sprawled in front of the fire. "Good show?" Remus nodded. Calvin paused, leaning against the door frame as if he wanted to say something, but finally he turned and went upstairs.

A little later Tonks bustled back into the house, looking rather red-faced. "Hi, Remus. Is Cal back? Of course he is. I 'spect I ought to nip into the shower quickly before he starts to get ready for his night out." She moved past onto the stairs, calling to Cal, and then disappeared up them. Remus sat and watched the flames; he felt as if he had wandered into a twilight dreamworld.

He was hardly able to raise himself when Tonks returned downstairs, her hair now gleaming with moisture. She had a towel slung round her shoulders to stop her shirt from getting too damp. She was still rosy-cheeked, highlighting her heart-shaped face. Remus watched her bite the right-hand side of her lip as she scanned the room, and he sighed.

Tonks started to babble. "I said I'd cook dinner tonight, so that Cal doesn't have to worry about it. Not sure what there is in the kitchen. Let's see." She dashed into the kitchen, and Remus heard the cupboards open and close. She called out, "There's a bit of mince, and some pork loin. Then, oh, peas and broccoli, and some sprouts." She stopped speaking. A second later, her head peeked back round into the living room.

Remus didn't notice until she said, more quietly, "Remus, are you okay?"

Remus moved slowly to look at her, and had to wait for an agonizing moment before the words came to his lips. "Yes." That did not seem sufficient, so he surged up, saying, "Never better." The blood rushed to his head and he felt very dizzy.

He vaguely heard Tonks say, "Are you sure? It's just that you seem a bit spaced out, that's all."

The dizziness faded, and Remus felt some of his strength and focus returning. "Never better," he repeated, and marched over to the kitchen. "Let's see what there is then."

Dinner was duly prepared, and Cal complimented the two chefs. He then dashed upstairs to 'get ready'. Remus was not quite sure what took so long, but then he had onlyhalf understood Calvin's description of 'clubbing'. It sounded thoroughly unpleasant to him.

A few minutes later there was a knock at the door. Tonks jumped up and opened it, crying, "Hello! Cal's just finishing up. Come on in to the kitchen."

Remus watched as the young Muggle Bobby walked in, and was quite surprised. Bobby had removed the pink tips to his spiked blond hair, and they now appeared to be white, as far as Remus could judge against the blond background. He was dressed in a smart pair of black trousers with a thin white stripe running down each side. His V-neck shirt had short sleeves and was also a bright white. "Hello, Mr. Lupin." He flashed a shark-like grin. "Still padding around here then?"

Remus nodded, and had the impression that if Bobby had been wearing a pair of bracers, he would have been twanging them. Tonks said, "Crikey. You're looking rather shiny."

Bobby's grin widened. "I'm gonna get me some good strobe lighting. That's the best thing." He perched on the back of a chair, and raised his eyebrows. "You're not coming along then, Tonks? I'll dance with you if you like!"

She snorted at that. "That desperate? Are you afraid all the girls are going to run a mile from that hair cut?"

Bobby sniffed and affected a cut-glass accent. "I should have known that someone with no breeding like yourself would fail to recognise the dazzling magnificence of this particular hair cut."

"Pot, kettle, black." Tonks said the three words slowly, with a light laugh hidden behind. Bobby made a dismissive gesture.

Cal walked into the kitchen then, with his darker hair also gelled up into spikes. Remus had to admit that he looked rather sharp. "Well, well, well. If it isn't Bobby Drake, in the flesh."

Bobby stood up and slapped Calvin's hand rather exuberantly. "Indeed it is. Shall we go and have some fun?" He walked towards the door, stage-whispering, "I tried to persuade old Tonks to come along, but she wasn't having any of it. Obviously thinks she'll have more fun in the kitchen with Mr. Lupin over there."

Calvin shook his head in mock anger, and then smiled at Tonks, a real, cheerful smile. "Okay, we're off to that club I mentioned the other day. The journey's about half an hour. Then, I'll be back before eight."

"Gotcha. Take care, and have fun. But not you Bobby, you have too much fun already."

There was a defiant, "Yeah, yeah, yeah," as the two boys left the house.

Tonks was smiling as she turned back to face Remus. "Just ignore Bobby. His heart's in the right place, even if his tongue rarely is."

"Aren't you worried about letting a Muggle into this house?"

Tonks shrugged. "Cal's always careful. And I like to see him smile like that. It doesn't happen all that often."

Remus agreed; Calvin had looked more animated in those last two minutes than he had for the entirety of the previous days. "You know, you don't have to stay in just because I'm here. Do whatever you'd usually do."

Tonks laughed. "I told you, just ignore Bobby. I usually go down to the _Green Dragon_ though; do you want to go and grab a pint?"

Remus did not really want to go, but thought that it would be rude to decline. A white later, they were seated at a small table in the pub, which was extremely noisy. Remus shouted, "You spend quite a lot of time in Muggle places, don't you?" He had no fear that anyone else would hear his use of the term 'Muggle'.

Tonks leaned forward. " Pardon?"

Remus repeated his question, and pulled his chair closer. To communicate, he and Tonks had to practically shout into each other's ears. She replied, "Yeah. It's a bit less claustrophobic. Plus, it's easier for Cal."

"Did he really mean eight in the morning?"

"Yep. Those places don't shut till well after dawn. He'll crawl in while I'm having breakfast."

Remus was quite bemused at the idea. Sure, he had stayed up late many times in his youth, but never in such an organised fashion. "How come he always tells you when he's going, and when he's coming back? It's quite peculiar."

"You said you saw the appeal, no?" Remus shrugged, not following Tonks' logic. She continued, "It was a condition of his release from Azkaban. He has to tell a Ministry official where he is at all times. After the appeal I went straight round and volunteered for the job."

"Oh." Remus assimilated this. He did not remember this from the appeal, but it had happened several years ago. "Did you know him before, then?"

"Yeah, we'd met up a few times. He even came round to my parents a few times for Christmas and the like when he was at Hogwarts."

Remus saw a shadow steal over Tonks' eyes at the mention of her parents, and, emboldened by the beer running though his veins, he covered one of her hands with his own. "That was really good of you, to take him in."

Tonks withdrew her hand to pick up her glass for a drink. "He's a good lad."

"So what happens if he doesn't report in?"

Tonks smiled sourly. "I've got an enchanted bit of paper. If he doesn't report in, or leaves the place he's supposed to be for more than ten minutes, I think it is, with an exception for getting from place to place, the paper starts to shout. It can be quite ... alarming. Then, it's spelled so that the paper shows an image of where he is if I speak the command word."

"You mean you can spy on him whenever you like? That's a pretty complicated enchantment."

"You could put it like that. But I don't see the need to check in on him like that." She sighed heavily. "It's awful that he has to report every day. He was exonerated at the appeal."

"Well, not really." Remus started to speak before thinking. "I mean nobody really believed him, they just weren't willing to argue with Minerva and Filius."

As the silence lengthened, Remus could see that he had quite effectively killed the mood.


	12. Stream of Consciousness

Remus was not awake early enough to see what time Calvin made it back. He got out of bed late and, seeing no one in the kitchen, left a note saying that he was going out for a walk. He picked up his his jacket and wallet and set out. He wandered aimlessly for quite a while, turning on to different streets as the mood struck him. For the first part of his stroll, he did his best not to think of his many problems, but eventually he could do little else.

He had no home. He thought that he might be able to return to his house and collect some things, but living there again was out of the question, and he could not impose upon Tonks and Calvin for much longer. Thinking about Tonks and Calvin reminded him of his conversation with Tonks in the pub last night, and he winced. He had not meant to sound so dogmatic, but he had never really believed that Calvin had been another mole in the Death Eaters' ranks. When the victims of the Comatose Curse had been woken up, Minerva McGonagall, Filius Fitwick and Severus Snape had all claimed that 'Nero Lestrange' had been working with them, and had been responsible for setting the wards that had saved so many of the children at Hogwarts during the last battle. Remus had thought at the time that their four missing years had addled their brains, or that the curse had altered their memories. Now that he had spent some more time with 'Nero', he could not really see him as a Death Eater. He seemed to be a nice enough fellow, although Remus could not see them becoming fast friends.

Tonks certainly seemed fond of him; the little brother she had never had. That was a good mark in his favour, in Remus' book. He kicked aimlessly at a stone, sending it rattling off the kerb, to roll underneath a car. Tonks was something else that he shoud think about it, but he instinctively avoided doing so. That was a problem for another time. Nonetheless, it was good to see her again.

It had also been good to see Hermione again; he would have to write her a note. He decided to do that this evening. He really ought to have kept in touch more, but that was not something he could do anything about now. Hermione had seemed to be as bright as ever. Perhaps she would be able to offer some insight into the murder case that he and Tonks were looking into. Albus had always said that she was good at logic; she might be able to see a way out of the locked room mystery that he seemed to be blocked with. Quadrille Beaufort was the murderer, or rather his wolf was, but Remus did not see how he could have escaped from Sorrel's. Unless it was some kind of sick joke by one of the attendants there.

Remus stopped in a small park and sat on a bench to chew over that idea. It seemed unlikely. The attendants were all supervised, and would not be able to take a werewolf out of his cage without someone noticing, especially if that wolf was not calmed by Wolfsbane. As far as Remus could tell, all of the attendants hated werewolves in any case, and would not be keen to spread lycanthropy. But then who would? Remus sighed; he was getting nowhere.

The sun was low in the sky when he started to walk back towards Mulligan Street. He had some difficulty remembering his way, and the sun had set by the time he arrived. He knocked on the door, and as he waited for an answer he looked up at the night sky. Orion the Hunter was standing proudly in the middle of the sky. The moon was aso present, hanging fat above a line of houses. Remus stared it at with loathing.

Tonks opened the door. "Remus, I was just starting to get worried! Come in."

Remus stepped through, wondering if he was imagining a slight unease in her tone. "I thought I'd go for a walk, you know, to clear my head and everything. I've been trying to get another angle on the murder case."

Tonks nodded slowly. "Me too." They walked through to the living room, and Remus made a point to say hello to Calvin, who was in the kitchen, cooking.

Remus sat down and steepled his hands in front of his face. "If we assume that Quadrille was the attacker, then he had to get out of Sorrel's, whilst in werewolf form, and then return. Frankly, the last part is completely incomprehensible." He said this in the same dry tone, and Tonks didn't react for a moment, before giving a small grin.

Remus was slightly disappointed; he had thought that that would make her laugh. "I am sure that he transformed before I did. I can only conclude that one of the attendants at Sorrel's took him out and then brought him back, if my first assumption is correct. But that would be difficult to do unless there was a grand conspiracy throughout the Institution. And I don't believe in big conspiracy theories."

Tonks snorted. "The truth is out there, mate." When Remus looked blank, she said, "Its a Muggle thing. I was thinking that perhaps we should take a different angle here. What has happened to the two children who disappeared? From the evidence at the crime scene, I can only assume that they were bitten. But where were they taken? Where are they now?"

Remus clasped his hands together. "They must be dead. The wolf will have eaten them."

"But it doesn't add up. We should have found their bodies. That whole area was carefully studied, and we didn't find the slightest trace. No, I think those kids are now werewolves. I mean, doesn't that make some kind of sense? Werewolves must only bite sometimes, otherwise they'd die out?"

Remus shook his head slowly. "No, I don't think the wolf is that rational. It just wants to feed. I think in nearly all cases werewolves ony survive because someone interrupts the wolf."

Tonks looked dubious. "What about Fenrir Greyback, then? He infected tons of people."

Remus' mouth twisted. "He was a special case. He was psychotic."

"But it does happen, right?"

Remus was forced to concede that it was a possibility. Tonks smiled slightly as if she had won a point. "So, assuming that these two kids are now werewolves, someone must be looking after them. They'll need to heal, I guess, and they're being hidden somewhere. But I have no idea where. Before I was kicked off the case, I did put a request in through the Muggle liaison office to see if any children had been seen alone, but I haven't heard anything yet." She paused, and then her face lit up, as if an idea had come to her. "But if there is some kind of big conspiracy, then it's all a setup. Your friend Quadrille was taken, infected the kids. He was taken back and the kids were taken somewhere else by the organizer!"

Remus raised his eyebrows. "That's crazy. The simplest explanation is that the kids are dead. Or else that they're wandering around somewhere. Anyway, why would someone _want_ two child werewolves?"

"Erm, I haven't thought of that yet." Tonks rubbed her chin in thought.

"I was thinking that it might be a good idea to speak to Hermione," said Remus. " I said that I would be in touch, and she's pretty smart. Maybe we could meet up and go through the case?"

Tonks glanced over to the kitchen and then said, "Maybe. I suppose it wouldn't hurt. Well, say that you want to meet up or something like that, and then we can decide later on what to say." She stared off into space for a few seconds. "I'm still convinced that the Wolfsbane has something to do with it. I've got a gut feeling about it. Do you know if Hermione knows anything about potions?"

Remus shook his head. "I think she was pretty good at school. I remember Harry once told me that she brewed Polyjuice in their first or second year. But Wolfsbane is a pretty complex potion."

At that moment, Cal shouted, "Dinner!" Tonks and Remus stood up and went through.

Remus had decided that he would make an effort to speak to Cal, and so as soon as they were all seated, he said, "So how was your clubbing?"

Cal permitted himself a small smile. "Great! There were some fantastic choons." He pronounced the last word with a thick accent.

"Choons?" said Remus delicately.

"Oh sorry, tunes." This time, Calvin's diction was cut-glass. "It was good. There were plenty of people. My mate, the boy Drake was pretty happy as there was plenty of strobe lighting! He looked a right sight."

Tonks grinned. "Did he have any luck with the ladies?"

"You know him too well!"

Tonks looked at Remus and saw that he was not following. "Calvin's friend thinks that he is very smooth, although I'm not sure how many people would agree."

"Ah." Remus nodded sagely, although in reality he had no idea what they were talking about. "Strobe lighting?"

Calvin smirked. "It's probably best if I show you." He took out his wand, and muttered, "_Strobo Scopus Minimus_." The kitchen suddenly went dark, to be filled with sudden flashes of bright light. After a few seconds the lighting returned to normal. "If you're wearing certain types of colours they light up really brightly."

Remus was quite bemused. Tonks leaned over and stage-whispered, "He invented that spell."

Remus was trying his best to see Calvin in a positive light, but he could only think that that was part of some bizarre type of Death Eater torture ritual. He decided to move quickly to another topic. "Your friend Bobby, did you meet him working at the pub?"

"No. I've known him for a bit longer than that."

They continued to chat until all of the food was eaten, and it was time for Calvin to head out to work. Once Calvin had left, Remus turned to Tonks and said, "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. It was the beer talking, or I don't know what. I was out of line. Now that I've met him, Calvin seems like a very nice young man."

To his surprise, Tonks' shoulders sagged as she gave a huge sigh of relief. She dashed forward and gave him a hug, and then just as suddenly rushed back to a safe distance, as if surprised by her own actions. "You have no idea how glad I am that you said that, Remus."

Nonplussed, Remus said, "Why?"

Tonks started to babble, and Remus was suddenly reminded of her younger self. "Well, I know you're in trouble at the moment, and don't really have a place to stay, and I would have felt awful if I'd had to say that you had to leave, but I couldn't have someone who felt that way about Cal staying here for very long. I mean, he's really important to me; family, you know? And you two seem to have been getting along so well. It's really good for him to meet other non-Muggles. I get so worried 'cos he only really speaks to me and Drake; it's just not healthy. And I would have felt so guilty turfing you out."

She finally ground to a halt and Remus risked stepping forward and pulling her into another hug. After a second he pushed her out to arm's length. "Don't worry, Nymph. Everything will work out." He did not believe that, but it seemed like the right thing to say. "I was thinking of getting a Muggle job during the day; I figure I ought to avoid the wizarding world for a bit. Perhaps Cal can help me find something. And then, when I've got some income, I can try and find somewhere to live."

Tonks smiled at him, and said, "You can stay here for as long as you like, Remus."

"We'll see. I can at least pay some rent, as soon as I get a job." He did not really feel like leaving, though. It was seductively comfortable, having other people around.

He took his arms off her shoulders and they went through to the living room. Tonks fired up the WWN, saying, "There's a really good serial on at the moment on Sunday evening. _The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe_. You know, the story about the Muggles who wander through a Portal to the Island of Jadis. I haven't missed a single episode, and it's the last one tonight."

Remus had not been watching it, but he had heard that it was good. After about thirty minutes, the programme was interrupted by some breaking news. Both Remus and Tonks sat up at that, wondering what had happened now.

A nondescript newsreader appeared, speaking in over-excited tones. "I am delighted to inform you that we have just received some news from 12 Grimmauld Place. Yes, we have a newsflash concerning Mr. Harry Potter, the Man-Who-Needs-No-Introduction! He and his wife, the delectable Ginevra, commonly known as Ginny, are expecting. Yes, Mrs. Potter is three months pregnant. The happy couple had kept the news to themselves until now, in case of any complications, but are now proud to announce that they are expecting a boy." The newsreader grinned smarmily. "For watchers of the Potters, this is no surprise, as Ginny comes from the Weasley clan, renowned for producing legions of boys. In fact, Ginny was the first female Weasley to be born in five generations, according to my notes here. The announcement was made earlier today at at a press conference in Ottery St. Catchpole, where the Weasley family live. We have some images from that event which we will be showing shortly." He continued to prattle on.

Remus said, "Wow. That's great. Finally some good news. I'll have to send Harry a letter." He glanced over at Tonks, but too late to notice that she had had her eyes closed during the last part of the announcement.

She returned his look and a wide smile was suddenly plastered on her face. "Yes, this is fantastic news. I'm a bit surprised that Molly didn't mention it to me last time I saw her, but then perhaps they kept it a secret from her as well! They must be so happy."

The picture in the fire changed to show Harry and Ginny holding hands, both sporting huge smiles. Harry's lightning-bolt scar seemed very prominent. The fire-Harry started to make his announcement. Remus leaned back in his chair. "He looks so happy. I'm so glad for him. He deserves it, he really does."

They watched the end of the broadcast, and then Remus said, "Do you have any parchment? I'll write him a letter right now, and one to Hermione while I'm at it."

Tonks stood up, and handed him some Muggle-style paper and a pen. "You'll have to practise if you want to work Muggle." She then yawned, rather exaggeratedly and rubbed at her eyes. "Well, I think I'll be off to bed. See you tomorrow."

Remus nodded, not really listening, and turned to concentrate on his letters. He was so pleased for Harry; he did not see him very often at all, but he knew that James and Sirius would have been over the moon about this news.

After the special broadcast had finished, _The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe_ reappeared in the flames, and Remus paused in his letter-writing to watch the end.


	13. The Unmasking

Harry and Ginny's news made the front pages of the _Daily Prophet_ the next day, along with a sizeable number of the inside pages. The other major story was the transfer of the veteran Quidditch keeper Oliver Wood from Puddlemere United to the all-star Bulgarian team Veliko Tarnovo, and that took up most of the back pages. Apparently there was little else of import happening, as these two stories occupied the headlines for most of the week.

Remus set about finding a job. Calvin made some inquiries at his pub, and Remus quickly found a temporary job as a builder. Most of the others working on the site were immigrants from Lithuania, and so Remus did not have to worry about his lack of knowledge of Muggle popular culture. He worked out with Tonks how much to pay in rent, and pledged to find something better soon.

He received a short, but polite, note from Harry, thanking him for his good wishes, and saying that he was glad to hear that Remus had moved back in with Tonks. Remus did not remember putting it quite like that. Hermione replied with a slightly longer missive, saying that she was delighted to hear from him, and proposing to meet for lunch on the Saturday. Remus had replied, saying that he was free, and that Tonks would like to come along as well. Hermione quickly sent a note saying that that was even better. All in all, Remus was feeling quite content with his life for once. The only problem was the mystery of the werewolf murder.

On the Thursday of that week, Cal's friend Bobby came round for dinner. From what Remus could gather, it seemed that this was quite a common occurence. The conversation managed to avoid anything wizarding, but Remus was quite puzzled as to how Tonks managed it on a regular basis. After the meal had ended and Cal and Bobby had headed off to the _Green Dragon_, Remus confessed to Tonks that he now understood her quip about Bobby being "smooth".

When Saturday rolled by, Remus was quite looking forward to meeting up with Hermione. They had arranged to have lunch in a small Muggle Chinese restaurant near Kentish Town Road. Apparently, it was close to Hermione's flat, and to Tonks' Quidditch practice field.

Hermione was already there when they arrived, and she leapt up and gave them both a hug. "It's so great to see you both! You know, Prof- Remus, I never believed you would actually come. I nearly had a heart attack when I got your owl." She grinned as she said it, and ushered them both to the table.

"How are you, Tonks? It's been a while." She paused, and cleared her throat nervously. "Are you still living with Cal?"

Tonks nodded. "Yes."

Remus said, "And how are you Hermione? Had a good week?"

Hermione shrugged and rolled her eyes. "As well as can be expected when you're looking at _pointless_ charms."

Remus laughed halfheartedly. "That's a rather poor pun."

After a brief pause, Hermione said, "I've eaten here a few times and it's pretty good. The char-siu pork is excellent. And the spare ribs are amazing."

Off-handedly, Tonks said, "Cal made char-siu pork the other day, do you remember, Remus?"

"You mean that glazed pork thing we had on Tuesday? That was superb." He looked at Hermione. "Her cousin is the most amazing cook."

To his surprise, Hermione flushed slightly. "So I've heard." She looked down at the menu. "How about we each order a starter and then share some main courses?"

Remus and Tonks assented, and they rapidly chose accordingly. After they had placed the order, and the waiter had moved away, Hermione rested her chin on her hand. "So, Remus, what have you been doing with yourself the last few years?"

Tonks smiled at her and copied her gesture. "Yes, Remus, what _have_ you been doing?"

Remus bit his lip and raised his hands in a gesture of defeat. "This ..."

Before he could finish, the two women chimed in, "... and that."

"It's the truth! Let's see. I spent a bit of time travelling around the UK. I did a bit of work as a Muggle fisherman, up in Ullapool in Scotland. Muggles are pretty brave, you know, going out seas with huge waves, without even a Bubble-Head Charm. After that, I went to Spain and did a spot of work with a potions master there, helping him to collect ingredients and the like, but then he had an accident and was killed in an explosion."

Hermione interrupted him. "You worked with Sancho Gutierrez Mendez? I've read about him. He was supposed to be able to brew the Omniscius Potion."

"Yes, that was him. He was a real gentleman. He couldn't brew Wolfsbane, though. He was allergic to aconite. Do you keep up with Potions, Hermione? I didn't realise he was so well-known."

She shook her head, regretfully. "Not really. Keeping up-to-date with Charms is difficult enough. I try to read a little bit now and then, but nothing more than that."

Remus said sincerely, "That's a shame."

To his regret, the two women would not let him off that easily. Tonks said, "So what ese were you up to, mystery man?"

"Oh, right. Well, after Sancho died, I came back to the UK, and applied to teach at Hogwarts again. Minerva was quite keen, but it wouldn't fly with the governors' board. So then I worked in a Muggle school." That was a particularly unpleasant memory. "I was forced to leave that job after a year and a month."

Hermione reached over and patted his arm. "I read about that, Remus. I was ever so worried about you."

"Thanks." He looked down at his plate, and was saved as the starters arrived. Once they had been served, he continued, "After that, I stayed around in London for a while, and then moved out to Cornwall, and that's where I've been since then. Working on this and that."

The two women did not press him any further, but Hermione waggled her eyebrows at Tonks. "And you, Miss Nymphadora? When was the last time I saw you? About three years ago, wasn't it? At that dinner party you had with some of the old Order members?" Her voice trailed off uncertainly.

"Yes," said Tonks coolly. "Well, since then I've been doing the same old. Working as an Auror. Haven't been promoted though." She sighed. "I don't think I will now."

"Oh." Hermione seemed surprised. "It sucks, doesn't it, getting older?"

Tonks laughed. "Sure does. And you, Hermione? Remus told me that you're working on a Point Me charm."

"Yep. Doing a bit of adaptation. It isn't going to revolutionize the world, but it might be helpful."

"And, er, in the personal department? Seeing anyone at the moment?"

Hermione shook her head. "No."

There was a brief lull in the conversation as they finished their starters. Remus then said, "Great news about Harry, isn't it?"

Hermione said, "Yes. Although, I was a bit disappointed that he didn't tell me before the announcement. I mean, I don't speak to him all that often, 'cos he didn't want to be disloyal to Ron, but even so."

Tonks said, "Do you ever see Ginny these days? I haven't seen her in a long while."

Hermione shook her head. "No. I think she spends most of her time with Harry. She was working as an Unspeakable when I last spoke to her, but I don't know if she's given that up or not because of the pregnancy. She'll be so happy though. She always wanted to have a million kids."

They all three shared a smile at the thought of their absent comrades.

The main course arrived, and Hermione said, "Did it work out, Remus, you search in the library? Did you find your Muggle? Was everyone on that list of yours okay?" The questions were hammered out like bullets.

Remus smiled wryly; still as impatient to learn as ever. "None of the people indicated by the spell had never heard of a Tom Stannard. I don't know why, but there it is. And no, not everyone was okay. At least three of the people on that list are dead, effectively lynched to death. One of them was Tom Stannard; I didn't quite tell you the truth, I'm afraid, Hermione."

She had gone pale. "Dead? Oh dear. I'm so sorry, Remus. Were they close friends of yours?"

Remus had the grace to blush. "No, not really."

"Is there going to be an investigation? There should be!"

"I don't know. I spoke to the relatives of another victim, Dorothy Dantan, and they were interested in trying to press charges of some sort, but I haven't heard anything back from them yet."

Hermione said, "You should speak to a friend of mine, Cato Scrimgeour. He's a lawyer who would be very interested in a case like this."

Tonks said, "Cato Scrimgeour? Isn't he the son of Rufus Scrimgeour, and the brother of Cicero?"

"Yes, that sounds about right. He doesn't get on too well with his brother though, from what I've heard."

"How on earth do you know him?"

"He's very interested in house elf rights, and we collaborated on a project a few years ago. Unfortunately, it didn't come to anything, but we keep in touch. If you like, I'll discuss it with him."

Remus said, "I'd wait a while, and see what the Dantans do. Mr. Dantan used to be on the Wizengamot, so he'll know who he wants as a lawyer. But thanks for the offer."

"Let me know. If there's anything I can do to help, I'd be happy to."

Tonks laughed and winked at Remus. "Actually, we were wondering if we could ask your opinion on something." She then proceeded to outline the information that she and Reums had gathered on the werewolf attack on Ilkley Moor, presenting the observations without supposition. Remus was impressed; she did so very concisely and accurately.

Hermione listened carefully, and at the end said, "That's certainly a lot to think about. I'd say that I'd have to agree about there being an inside element."

Tonks said, "I've been meaning to get together some files on the people who work at Sorrel's, but I've been too busy on the case I've been assigned to. I'm fairly sure we've uncovered traces of a huge dragon egg smuggling ring. I'll try and do that next week."

"That's a good idea. I think you're right, though, about the Wolfsbane. There's something fishy there. Do you think we can find out who's making it, or the recipe? Then we could compare with the published version."

Remus spoke up. "I might be able to smuggle some out if I'm careful, next full moon."

"Let's hope we've solved the case by then," said Tonks. "But, if we haven't, that's definitely a good idea."

By this point, they had finished dinner. Tonks glanced up at the clock on the wall, and jumped. "Look at the time; I'm going to be late for practice." She stood up precipitously. "Hermione, it was lovely to see you. You must come round for dinner one day. Remus, can you pay for me, and I'll pay you back later." With a jaunty wave, she rushed out of the door.

Hermione smiled. "I'd forgotten how full of energy Tonks is. Do you want a coffee?"

Remus nodded, and they both ordered a small espresso. Hermione took a sip, and then said in a playful tone, "So what's it like, living with Tonks after all this time?"

Remus flushed and said, lamely, "Fine."

Hermione laughed, with a full-throated, full tone. "I'm sorry, Remus. I couldn't resist." Before she could say any more, a loud siren wailed.

Both Remus and Hermione turned to look out of the window. A policeman jumped out of his panda car, carrying a megaphone. "This is an emergency. Please evacuate your houses and move away from this area. We have an emergency situation. Please evacuate." Several other cars were also arriving.

Remus and Hermione walked out with the restaurant staff and moved away from the street. Remus asked if anyone knew what the problem was, but no one had any answers. After several minutes, Remus and Hermione settled their bill and strolled off. As Hermione said, the Muggle world had its own problems as well.

Remus returned to Mulligan Street, and sat down to read the newspaper. Cal came in a bit later. Remus told him about the evacuation, and Cal said, "I heard about that on the radio at work. Apparently there was a bomb alert, and the police exploded an unidentified package." Remus just shook his head at the constant surprises known as Muggles.

Tonks returned home, and after showering, had a quick discussion with Cal in the kitchen. Remus did not catch any of it, as it seemed to be conducted in furious whispers. He started to doze off, and was woken by a knocking on the front door. Bobby walked in, and strolled into the living room. "What's for dinner then?"

Cal shook his head in mock dismay. "Salad. These two already ate quite a lot, apparently."

"Salad! Do I look like a rabbit?"

"Hey! It's my special endive salad. Don't knock it."

"Hmmm. Do you need a hand? I could try to find some ham or something." Without waiting for a reply, Bobby went into the kitchen, where he, Tonks and Cal started to discuss something in quiet tones again. Remus was starting to feel a little paranoid, but decided not to interrupt.

The three came back into the living room, bearing a salad bowl and a plate with some ham on. They all sat down, and after a few moments of inconsequential chatter about the weather and the _Green Dragon_, Bobby said to Remus, "Mr. Lupin, are you planning to stay here long?"

Remus looked at him in confusion. "Where?"

"Here, with Tonks and Cal."

Remus sat up straight. "I don't know. That depends on whether or not they want me around."

Tonks glanced over at Cal and said, "As long as you keep on paying rent, buster."

"If Tonks doesn't mind, then I don't mind," said Cal, soberly.

Remus knew that he should have said that he would leave as soon as he could afford a place of his own, but he did not. Instead, he said, "Looks like I'll be staying a little while longer then." He fought to stop from smiling too broadly, and looked at his feet.

"Well then," said Bobby, "I'm going to have to tell you something." He paused, and Remus started to feel apprehensive. "If you ever do anything to Tonks, or to Cal, I will hunt you down and take you out." He snarled, and then spoiled the rather menacing effect by laughing. "You look terrified, Mr. Lupin."

Remus was somewhat taken aback.

"That wasn't what I meant to say. What I meant to say was that, if you're going to be sticking around, then I can't pretend to be a Muggle any more."

"You're not a Muggle?"

"Nope." Bobby grinned rather sadistically. "In fact, you used to teach me, Professor."

"I did?" He looked accusingly at Cal. "Why did you say Bobby was a Muggle?"

Cal tried to look blameless. "I never did. You assumed."

"I never taught a Bobby."

"No, but then again, my name's not really Bobby." The blond-haired boy grinned even wider. "I'm Draco Malfoy."

Remus would have fallen off his chair if it had not been an armchair. He settled for leaning backwards, and stared at 'Draco Malfoy'. The boy had blond hair, that was true, but it was short and spiky, and dyed red at the tips. And he had a broken nose, which obscured his features. Remus squinted, and tried to look past the nose, and then saw that it was indeed a Malfoy, but a Malfoy totally out of context, in Muggle clothing. "But you're dressed like a Muggle."

Draco shrugged, "When in Rome, be a Roman candle."

"But everyone called you Bobby?"

"Yeah, it's some weird nickname. Because of the wizard law, I have to go by my real name, so Cal shortens it to Drake, to avoid attracting too much attention. Apparently there's some Muggle cartoon character called Bobby Drake. Hence, Bobby."

"I can't believe it." Remus was totally flabbergasted. "You live in a Muggle flat?"

Draco shrugged and his face hardened for a second. "I don't really have a choice, Mr. Lupin. I like to eat, and, like you, I can't really get a job in the wizarding world. Nobody will hire a Malfoy. So I've become more Muggle than the Muggles." He smiled, baring his teeth. "It's a lot better than I thought it would be. Muggles have _so_ many ways to have fun. They aren't as stupid as I used to think. Still, that wasn't so difficult."

Remus turned to Tonks, trying to ask her silently what on earth Draco Malfoy was doing here. She stared at him intensely for a moment, and then said, "Come here boys."

They both dashed over to the sides of her chair. She wrapped her arms around their necks and pulled them into a rough hug. Her face slowly morphed into one that showed the aristocratic Black mark. Remus took in the triptych; three faces, all with the same cheekbones. Together like this, Draco's family resemblance could not be denied. Two framed by black hair, one by blond spikes. Tonks said slowly, "Voila, Remus. The proud and successful remnants of the Most Noble and Ancient House of Black."


	14. The Big Brother Speech

HORRIFIC DOUBLE MURDER 

_Yesterday, Aurors broke into a house in Suffolk after receiving an alert by local residents that the owners of the house, Mr. and Mrs. Edmund Dantan had not been seen for several days. The Aurors witnessed a scene of horror; the Dantans had been murdered in their front room and left for dead by a burglar. The crime had apparently been committed several days ago as the bodies were in an advanced state of decomposition. The house had been ransacked and many valuable items were missing. Mr. Dantan had been stabbed twice in the stomach, and Mrs. Dantan was apparently killed by a Reductor curse, confirming that the criminal is a wizard. _

Remus put down Monday's newspaper without finishing the article and sighed heavily. He had visited the Dantans just over a week ago, and now they were dead. He rubbed his eyes.

_RATIONING!_

_For the first time in living memory, the UK wizarding community is being asked to limit its use of Floo Powder. Apparently, a new form of Argent Birch Blight has been reported in all countries around the word (see p.5 for information on Argent Birch Blight). The Wizengamot, in emergency session, has declared that all Floo Powder will now be rationed. Families are asked to present their details at the Ministry of Magic to receive coupons allowing them to buy a limited stock of Floo Powder. Only registered merchants will be allowed to sell Floo Powder (see p.6 for a list of legal vendors). Similar measurements are being put into place around the world. We ask all citizens to report any illegal trade in Floo Powder to the authorities. On a more positive note, George Weasley, chairman and co-founder of Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes (WWW), developers of the highly successful Felly-Tones, told us that WWW will be devoting its research and development arm towards finding a replacement._

Remus put down Thursday's newspaper without finishing the article and sighed. Where last week had been full of good news, this week there was only bad.

Later that evening, before dinner, Tonks had shooed him out of the house apologetically. "I arranged ages ago for my friends to come round to dinner. You remember Owen and Sheila?" Remus did, fondly. When he and Tonks had been a couple, they had often met up with Owen and Sheila after the war. They had both been in Tonks' year at Hogwarts. "Well, I haven't mentioned that you're staying here at the moment, and I don't think it's a good idea if you're here when they come round." She said this last part very fast.

It took Remus a few seconds to catch up and translate. He nodded slowly. "What time will you be finished?"

"Before closing time, that's for sure." Tonks was not able to look him in the eye.

Remus nodded again, collected his jacket, and headed out to find something to eat. He was a bit hurt by Tonks' request, he had to admit, but then he could hardly argue with it. It was his fault that they had split up, and he supposed that Owen and Sheila might think that his staying in her house was a bit off.

The air was chilly, but fortunately there was no moisture in the air. Remus pulled his jacket about him. He would have to think about getting a new one, but so far his builder's pay covered his rent and little else. Tonks had said that he did not have to pay so much rent, but he had looked up the going rates in the local Muggle papers, and insisted on paying something close to those. It might be stupid, but he had his pride. He grinned hideously; he always had his pride. It kept him very warm at nights.

He straightened, rebuking his wayward thoughts. Still, it was difficult, living in Tonks' house. It brought back so many memories of their times together. Only yesterday evening, they had been sitting in front of the fire sipping a glass of wine after dinner. Tonks had said, "Look at the fire, it's spitting."

He had turned to look at it, and they had both said, simultaneously, "Do you remember when ..." They had both laughed, and then Remus had said, "Yes. In Grimmauld Place when Sirius would sit there and see all the shapes in the flame."

Tonks had said, "He always got it wrong. I mean, look at that flame there. It looks like a dryad, but he would have said it was a veela's hair."

Remus had joined in the game. "Rubbish! Definitely an red pixie."

"Oh come on, that's a different flame."

They had kept on pretending to see various magical creatures, laughing all the while, until Remus had said, "Great Scott, that's Samantha Rimes!"

Tonks had peered at the flames, before doubling over in stitches. When she had recovered herself, she looked up and said, "No, Remus, this is Samantha Rimes."

She had morphed into the face of the WWN weather reporter, a young, perky, face, rimmed with long reddish hair. Tonks tilted her head to the side in exaggerated fashion, just as the real Samantha Rimes did. "Today the flames will be extra hot close to the broken tile on the left." Her voice mimicked the presenter's voice perfectly, several tones lighter and an awful lot fluffier than Tonks' usual voice.

Remus had found it tremendously amusing and had started to chuckle. He closed his eyes and tried to master himself, but failed. When he opened them again, Tonks was in a slightly different pose, this time mimicking the other weather presenter on the network, a slightly scruffy older gentleman with a handsome handlebar moustache. She had tilted his head to the other side, and said, using Rimes' distinctly feminine voice, "However, the smart wizards and witches will note that the best place to be today will be in ..." This was Rimes' catchphrase.

Remus then bit the tip of his tongue and said, "Into the fire." They had both started to giggle rather hysterically.

Tonks reformed her usual face and stood up abruptly. "I think I need a glass of water? You want one?"

Remus nodded and she headed to towards the kitchen, only to misplace one of her feet. She stumbled forward, and Remus, quick as a flash, leapt out of his seat to catch her elbow and steady her. She looked at him in surprise. "Still as quick as ever, Remus?

He had not trusted his voice and had remained silent, simply nodding slowly with a charming smile. Neither of them had said anything for a long moment, and then Remus had suddenly remembered where he was, and who he was, and pulled back his hand as if it were burnt.

Tonks' eyes had flickered; Remus thought they had changed colour. She had then gone into the kitchen, bringing back two glasses of water. She had sat down, and then she and Remus had both stared into the fire silently until Calvin had returned home.

Remus shook his head viciously, trying to clear these thoughts out of his head. However he might have wanted to interpret them, it was clear that today, Tonks wanted him out of the house, away from her friends. In all honesty, he could not blame her. He scowled, and walked on, eventually finding himself outside the _Green Dragon_.

He walked in to the customary wall of noise, and moved through to the slightly quieter bar. Draco saw him enter and pulled him a pint. "That's your usual, isn't it, Mr. Lupin?" Remus was not sure if there was a sneer on that last part or not. Truth be told, he did not know what to make of Draco, and found it difficult to relate this spikey-haired young man to the Draco Malfoy that Harry Potter had clashed with at school. If anything, the new Draco reminded Remus uncomfortably of a younger Tonks, full of colour and zest.

He drank alone, and then walked back to the house with Calvin. Calvin was walking very slowly, and Remus had the distinct impression that he was struggling with something. Finally, he stopped, and said, "Calvin, what's wrong? You look like you swallowed a wasp's nest."

Calvin stopped as well and looked at the ground, his eyes occasionally flicking up to meet Remus' eyes. "Remus, this is kind of difficult to say, but, well ..." He paused. "I know that you and Tonks used to go out."

Remus shuffled on his feet impatiently. He did not want to talk about this. Apparently Calvin was not enjoying it either. Cal rubbed his forehead and then continued. "And I've seen you looking at her this last week. You seem like a nice guy, Remus, but please be careful. I don't know what happened between you and Tonks before, but she deserves someone who can give her what she needs." He rubbed his forehead even harder, and looked at Remus' eyes more determinedly. "Like I say, I don't know why it didn't work out between you guys, but if you are thinking about trying again, you had better be careful with her. Or else, me and Draco will sort you out." He grinned lopsidedly, but Remus was not fooled. This man talking him to now was the young Lestrange.

Remus reacted sharply. "There's nothing going on between me and Tonks. Once, yes, I won't deny it, but I _cannot_ give her what she needs. So, I'm not going to be getting in her way. If it makes you happier, I'll be moving out as soon as I can get the money together."

Calvin winced and turned away. "You're not listening, Mr. Lupin. I'm not asking you to move out." He looked up at the night sky, trying to find better words. Suddenly he winced, and gasped, "Come on, we'd better get home." He started to walk very fast, and Remus looked at him in confusion.

Then he gathered himself together and dashed after Calvin, grabbing his arm and pulling him to a stop. "Calvin, if I'm not listening, tell me again."

Calvin shrank away from him and started to back away. "Not now, Mr. Lupin, please."

Remus was feeling bold at that moment, and said, "Please, Calvin."

Calvin stopped and looked at him. Remus felt as if he were being judged. "Tonks is my family, Mr. Lupin. I want her to be happy, and you seem to do that, most of the time." He shivered. "But I really must get back." He turned and ran, and Remus tried to catch up, wondering at his sudden haste. In the dark Cal tripped on something in the road and hit the floor, allowing Remus to catch up. Remus gave him a hand up wordlessly.

Calvin sprinted to the house and Remus was sure that he used a surreptitious spell to open the door. As soon as the door was open, Remus understood his haste. An alarm was sounding, and Tonks was standing in the hallway clutching a flashing piece of parchment. She looked up as they both entered and slammed the door shut with a flick of her wand. "Cal, where the devil have you been? You're fifteen minutes late! Quick, touch the paper. Hopefully they won't make a fuss. What on earth were you thinking, you fool?"

As she ranted, Cal tapped the paper and Tonks summoned a quill to scribble something down. The alarm immediately switched off, and the parchment stopped flashing. "I'm sorry, Tonks. I lost track of time, and then I ran after I felt the five minute alarm, but it was too late."

"Ran! I don't believe you. It's not that far." She glanced up at Cal's face. "Are you alright? Did you get in a fight, is that why you're late?"

Remus noticed then that Cal had acquired a small cut on his chin from his tumble, and looked rather scuffed. As Tonks cast a quick healing spell, Cal tried to speak, but Tonks shushed him. Once she had finished, he blurted out, "I wasn't in a fight, I just lost track of time."

Remus remembered Cal's wince during their conversation, and felt honour-bound to say something. "It's my fault, Tonks. We were talking, and I kept Cal out in the street when he wanted to come back. I wasn't thinking and didn't realise about the curfew."

Tonks did not look happy but she accepted the excuse and stopped berating Calvin. She sighed. "Well, let's just hope that when the report ends up on the duty desk, they don't put you on probation again."

Cal agreed fervently. Remus said, "Probation?"

Tonks said, "Make us report any absence from the house a week in advance."

Remus said dumbly, "But it's only fifteen minutes!"

Cal leaned against the wall and regarded him slyly, saying sarcastically, "They lock you guys up in a mental institution on the full moon. What makes you think that there would be any generosity towards a marked Death Eater?"

Suddenly Tonks laughed, trying to break the tension. "Oh, stop comparing your miseries, you two. Come on, let's have a cup of tea while I write up a quick explanation. You never know, nothing might come of it. I'll explain when I go in to the office tomorrow morning."

"Can I do anything? Say it was my fault, or something?" said Remus.

Tonks snorted. "I don't think the word of werewolf is going to really improve matters." Remus was wounded, and tried not to show it, but Tonks caught his flinch. She blinked and then said, "Remus, I'm sorry."

Cal then interjected, "What happened to 'stop comparing your miseries'?" He walked into the kitchen and threw one last parting sally. "Besides, we all know it's true." His voice was bubbling with laughter. It was completely inappropriate, but Remus was suddenly overcome by a wave of hysterics. Tonks watched him laughing and shook her head in bemusement.

When he had collected himself, Remus wiped his eyes and went into the kitchen. He clapped Cal on the shoulder. "You're alright, for a Death Eater. I'm sorry I stopped you on the way home."

Cal grinned and punched his shoulder lightly. "You're not too bad yourself, for a werewolf."

They both carried the tea through and sat down. Tonks looked up at them and harrumphed. "If you two are quite finished..."

Remus shared a conspiratorial glance with Calvin and smiled. A weight had lifted off his chest, and although he did not quite know why, it felt good.

"Right, do you have a list of where you want to go in the next few days, just in case they decide to throw the book at us?" said Tonks.

"Erm," Calvin hesitated. "Well, work as usual, Friday night, Saturday day, Sunday day. I was thinking of going to the supermarket on tomorrow morning, and I was planning to visit Professor Snape tomorrow afternoon."

Tonks noted this all down,and then screwed up her forehead. "Snape? That won't look so good if it's the first thing they see. Can you go next week instead?"

Remus said coolly, "You visit Snape?"

Calvin looked at both of them, and then addressed Tonks first. "Yes, he'd understand. I'm not even convinced that he notices me when I go. I don't really know how much he notices. It's been a long time since he bothered to say anything when I visit. And yes, Mr. Lupin, I do visit Professor Snape." He tilted his chin, as if daring Remus to comment.

Remus did not take up the challenge. He had no desire to break the rapport he had just formed with the young Lestrange by arguing over a man who was practically dead.

Tonks said, "Does Drake ever visit?"

Calvin snorted. "Drake? Not likely."

Tonks folded up her freshly written report. "He ought to. Snape did a lot for him."

Calvin shrugged. "I think Professor Snape would understand."

"Right, well." Tonks stood up. "I'll just get this report submitted. See you two in the morning."


	15. Full Moon

In the end, there were no repercussions from Calvin's late night home. Or at least, none that were immediately noticeable. This saved Remus from feeling too guilty. Soon it was Saturday, and Remus and Tonks had another appointment with Hermione, this time in a swanky Muggle bar in South London in the early evening. Tonks had returned from her Quidditch practice rather energized and had morphed her hair into a set of dark brown spikes. She looked rather lean and sporty, very much like a Quidditch player. They went to the bar together, and Remus had the disconcerting idea that she had grown a couple of inches.

Hermione walked in a few minutes later, and they retired to a small booth along one of the walls. "Remus, Tonks. You're both looking well." She sipped her drink, and then said, "Have you been playing basketball again, Tonks?" Her voice had a cheeky lilt to it.

Tonks rolled her eyes and said, "Shush, you. So, good week?"

The by-play was completely lost on Remus, so he decided to ignore it. Hermione said, "Well, it's hardly been a week full of good news, has it? I suppose that the Dantans mentioned in the paper were the ones you visited?"

Remus nodded, and said heavily, "How did you guess?"

"According to one of the Aurors working on the case, they were probably killed on the Monday," said Tonks. "From what I've heard so far, the murderer was apparently known to them, although I don't know how they know. They're keeping pretty quiet. Usually, my friend's pretty talkative, but he kept schtum on this one."

"Hmmm." Remus could see the cogs turning inside Hermione's head. "So, have you found anything else out?"

Tonks straightened, for all the world like an eager puppy. "Actually, loads. I checked out the staff at Sorrel's, and of those who work the full moon shifts, a majority of them have an official record of a crime connected to an addiction on file. I'm willing to bet that the others have an unofficial addiction. I've also noticed that quite a lot of them live in Yorkshire, close to Ilkley Moor, the site of the attack." She paused to let them digest that information.

Hermione said, "So, they're under the thumb of someone. And it is looking more and more likely that there is a connection to the attack. And the Wolfsbane?"

"Well, the Wolfsbane is being produced under contract by a small company, called Fuchsia Remedies. I did a bit of background research, and that company is actually contolled, through a whole load of shells companies, by Roger Parkinson."

"Rufus Parkinson? Pansy's Dad?" Hermione wrinkled her brow.

Tonks nodded, and then Hermione said, "Ron proposed to her, you know, last week, after Harry and Ginny's announcement. Neville told me."

Tonks squeezed Hermione's hand. "Well, once an idiot, always an idiot."

Remus had been trying to remember something, and in a flash it came to him. "Ilkley Moor! The Parkinsons live near there. I remember a chap in that pub asking me if I was going to work there. It sounded like there were a lot of new people going there on business."

Hermione said, "I think we are getting somewhere. Tonks, do the Aurors have anything on the Parkinsons?"

"Nope. Model citizens."

Hermione snorted in rather unladylike fashion. "I hope Ron's okay. God only knows what Roger Parkinson is up to this time. We need to get some inside information."

Remus said, "Well, I'll get some of the Wolfsbane. The full moon is coming up soon."

Tonks was thinking. "Yes, that's right. Perfect opportunity. I'll pretend to be one of the attendants and see if anything happens during the night. In fact, I think I know which one of the attendants would be easiest to put to sleep for the evening. Then we'll know for sure if there's anything dodgy going on at the Institution, and we might even be able to link it up to the Parkinsons." She smiled grimly.

Remus had to ask, "And what if there is? Why would they be running such a complicated operation. And to influence the employees at Sorrel's, that's a lot of work."

"Well," said Tonks, "we'll get over that hurdle when we come to it. For now, we need facts."

Hermione chipped in. "Will you be okay? And, is it safe to go around stunning people and imitating them?"

Tonks shrugged. "No, but do you have any better ideas?"

She did not, and so the plan was decided. Remus did not particularly care for it, but he had no better solutions. All they had to do now was wait for the full moon. Unfortunately, the _Daily Prophet_ was waiting for the full moon as well. A series of articles were run in the days prior, warning people about the forthcoming full moon, and telling them to stay inside and make sure that their children were safe. The editorial page called for concerned citizens to form 'home guard' units to patrol near wizarding homes, and called on the Ministry to take more action. To Remus' disgust, they also chastised the Ministry for not having more accurate knowledge on the current residence of most of the werewolves in the country; very few werewolves had resurfaced publicly after the _Prophet_ had published their previous addresses.

The day before the full moon, there was a break in the werewolf news, only to report on the murder of the Dantans. Apparently the Cunning Changeling, a well known thief, had moved up the criminal hierarchy to murder. The Aurors on the case had somehow decided that the Changeling had broken into the house in search of valuables, and then when the Dantans returned unexpectedly had imitated a friend or relative of theirs. However, his disguise had obviously not been perfect and he had killed the Dantans to avoid being caught. Tonks said that she thought the entire story was fiction, but Remus thought that it explained why her colleague had not told her very much. It certainly sounded very colourful, that was for sure, but the newspaper report said that more details would be forthcoming. Meanwhile, people were told to be on the alert at all times.

Finally, the day of the full moon arrived. Remus felt stretched, and hoped that he would be able to fulfil his part of the mission. He concentrated on that aspect, as he did not want to think about Tonks seeing him and the other werewolves transformed. He had Transfigured a small vial into a false tooth, just in case any of the attendants noticed.

When the hour came to leave, Cal wished him good luck. Tonks had already left several hours previously. He Apparated to St. Mungo's, and was directed straight through to Sorrel's, where he joined a queue of werewolves being checked in. He was just behind Timothy Hardin, and so tapped him on the shoulder.

Timothy whirled round in shock. "Remus! How are you?"

"Good. And you?"

"Can't complain, can't complain. It's been a bit tense in here though. I hope nothing happens this evening."

"Me too, me too."

"Have you been reading the papers? I don't like the sound of it at all."

Another man chipped in, "We're all for the chop, mate. If there is another attack this evening, Merlin help us. You're Lupin, aren't you? Thanks for checking up on me after the _Prophet_." Several other werewolves heard this and murmured their agreement.

Remus said quickly, "Well, we all have an alibi."

Timothy snorted. "Like that'll count for anything in the crunch."

"Fair enough," nodded Remus. "But then we need to keep an eye out for each other. We should make sure that we check up on each other after the full moon; make sure that no one disappears."

"Aye," said a woman with a thick Scottish burr. "I knew Tom Stannard. Thank you for telling me what happened before, Remus."

Remus nodded his sympathy. "Yes, Tom Stannard, Marcus Channings, Dorothy Dantan. All dead. Maybe more are."

A younger lad, further back in the queue, joined in, whispering quietly, "Mr. Lupin, we'll let you know if anyone is missing today in our corridor."

This suggestion was mirrored by people in the other corridors. Remus said, quietly, "Thank you. We'll get through this."

They were soon checked in and given a bottle of Wolfsbane. Remus fingered his wand and subtly activated the vial. When he drank the potion, a small amount a trickled into his false tooth.

The werewolves then had some time to relax and prepare for the night ahead while the attendants put out their bowls of water and some hunks of raw meat. Remus ended up playing cards with Quadrille, although the game was repeatedly interrupted by werewolves coming up to thank him for checking up on them.

Eventually, a bell rang, and all of the werewolves stood up and moved to their usual cubicles. Remus reluctantly began to peel his clothes off. He reached into his mouth and pulled out the false tooth, leaving it in that form, and stuffed it in his trouser pocket. He placed his wand in his shirt and carefully wrapped up the bundle. He placed it near the door and sat down to wait.

An attendant passed by and picked up the bundle. He checked for the wand and then glanced around Remus' cubicle. Without saying a word he then carried the bundle away to be locked up. No one knew where the things were lodged, but Remus had never heard of anything being stolen. Remus looked around, and nodded at Quadrille, just opposite. The man was shivering. He looked further down his corridor, and saw that all of the cubicles here were full. That was something to take comfort in, at least.

Another attendant came round and silently locked all of the open grille doors. Remus stared at her, but could not see Tonks in her face. She locked the rest of the cubicles in the corridor and then hurried out. He sniffed, and caught the scent of other wolves. The moon was rising, and so was the tension in his body. He crouched down, trying to minimize the pain. The wolf ripped free, tearing bloodily out of his flesh.


	16. The Werewolf Dungeon

Tonks tapped her Felly-Tone, setting it to reject all incoming calls, and knocked on the door in front of her. She looked down once to check her appearance. A small, sharp-nosed fellow opened the door and peered at her owlishly behind thick spectacles. "Martha! How good to see you! Come in."

Tonks walked in and looked round at the cramped little flat, and then back at the occupant. He said, "I'll just put the kettle on." As he walked past, Tonks whipped out her wand and silently Stupefied him. Before he could fall, she caught him and carried him through to his living room, laying him out on the sofa.

She stared at him, feeling rather guilty about all of this. She had spied on this poor man earlier, and then borrowed the form of one of his few friends to get into his house and into his skin. He was one of the attendants at Sorrel's Institution who was supposed to be working over the full moon, and he lived in London, not Yorkshire. Tonks had decided that he was her best option for imitation. She certainly hoped that this was worthwhile, and that Remus's nose was not leading them astray. But, if it they found something out, this would be one in the eye for the Ministry. Tonks grimaced as she looked at the Stunned man on the sofa. This was not supposed to be so personal.

Clearing her mind, Tonks looked at the man, Harry Tindale, carefully. Once she had him fixed in her head, she pulled the curtains shut and quickly stripped before morphing into his features. Her clothes were quickly Transfigured into replicas of the Sorrel's uniform and pulled back on. Tonks had had a lot of practice at Transfiguring clothes and they would easily last in that state through till the next day. The last things to do were the glasses. Tonks knelt on the floor and moved her wand towards the lenses. She whispered, "_Oculos Fortioris_."

Then she sighed; the man was almost as blind as a bat. Years of experience had taught her that it was best to copy the eyesight of a subject. A failure to squint if the glasses were removed could tip off an enemy. She fished a pair of sunglasses out of her bag and Transfigured those. Her disguise was now complete.

She arrived at Sorrel's in the early afternoon, a bit earlier than her assumed persona would usually arrive. The risk was worth it though, in her opinion, to scope out exactly where everything was and what she had to do to fill her role. Duty rosters were posted in each of the staff rooms.

Not soon after, the other attendants started to turn up. Tonks had gone to some lengths to obtain pictures and recognised each of the attendants, cross-referencing them with her mental list of who lived in Yorkshire and which addiction each one suffered from. Her persona had once had a weakness for Stardust, a melange of powdered Basilisk fang mixed with pixie dust. It was supposed to increase confidence, remove inhibitions and improve sexual prowess. It was also extremely addictive, and illegal; too much use could impair magical abilities. Harry Tindale had been clean for three years, according to what Tonks had been able to find out. He had certainly not shown any of the usual symptoms of someone on Stardust before she had Stunned him.

Harry's first task was to set out food and water in the cubicles in Wing B. Remus and Quadrille Beaufort were in Wing C. Tonks set off with an armful of raw steak, in the company of David Chapman and Arthur Cromwell. They both lived in Yorkshire, according to the records, and had also been Stardust-addicts. Tonks had noticed, however, that they both had the dilated pupils common to Stardust users.

They placed the steaks and bowls of water out. Tonks decided to gauge their feelings. "I wouldn't mind keeping one of the bits of meat meself. There's a lot of good meat here."

"Aye," said Cromwell. "More than the dogs deserve, that's for sure."

Chapman grinned at them both. "Not difficult, though, is it? They don't deserve much. Slinking around, getting special treatment. I bet they think they're better than us, 'cos of their special powers and what not?"

Tonks held her tongue, not wanting to say anything stupid. Cromwell said, "It's not as if they're human any more. I don't really see why the government is so keen to look after them. They don't get any thanks for it."

Internally, Tonks gritted her teeth, thinking of Remus. When she spoke, though, she said, "Well, they can't really let the scum roam about killing folk, can they?"

For a moment, Chapman looked guilty, but Cromwell said, "Aye, quite right, Harry."

There was a silence for a moment, and then Tonks looked shiftily at Cromwell, making the movement obvious. Cromwell stopped and looked at her suspiciously. "What's up, Harry?"

Tonks rubbed behind her ear, trying to look nervous. "I was just wondering, I heard from one of the lads that you might be able to get hold of some ..." She fluttered her fingers in the gesture commonly reserved for Stardust amongst the initiated. She started to speak faster, as if afraid. "It's just, I've been feeling the need lately, and the guy I used to buy off, he disappeared, if you know what I mean."

Cromwell crossed his arms over his chest and looked rather smug. Tonks itched to give him a good right hook. "Is that right, Harry? What happened to 'I'm clean now, and I'm staying clean'? Got a new lady friend?" When 'Harry' looked sheepishly at the floor, Cromwell walked over and clapped an arm around Tonks' shoulders. "I understand, Harry. And you know what, I think we can help you out. I've got a source who's pretty reliable. He likes to check up on his customers though. I'll have a word with him tonight and let you know."

Tonks nodded feverishly, and then stepped out of Cromwell's embrace. "Thanks, Arthur. That'd be great." She hoped that this would not push the real Harry Tindale back on to to the addiction slopes. She had gained some useful information though; Cromwell should only be speaking to a limited number of people this evening.

They finished setting out the food and returned to the central areas, where a number of werewolves were waiting. They looked poor, hungry and rebellious. At least they would get a good meal as a wolf, Tonks thought. She wandered around, imitating the other attendants. She spotted Remus, playing cards with someone, and holding conversations with a number of other people. She did not linger, but kept her eye on him. A lot of the other werewolves kept looking to him, as if they recognized him as a leader. Tonks made a mental note to ask him about that. He looked like a leader as well, if a leader in chains. He held his back straight, and Tonks thought that he looked positively noble.

She had never seen him transform. He had been so paranoid each full moon, and had said that he did not want her to see. She had respected his wishes. She had seen him on the mornings after though. In those days, he had had no access to Wolfsbane, and had always been tired and injured. Tonks was unable to suppress a shiver as she thought of the pain that he apparently suffered.

Soon enough it was time for the lockdown, and Tonks lost sight of Remus as he moved towards Wing C. She mentally crossed her fingers and hoped that he would be okay. The werewolves all moved calmly and obediently into their cells, and started to undress. Tonks watched the other attendants for a cue as to how to behave. They scarcely seemed to notice the werewolves, and if they did look at them, they sneered. Tonks copied them as she picked up the piles of clothes and took them away to be put in lockers. When all of the werewolves were installed, they locked the grilles. Finally, the attendants left, and Tonks shivered as the door to the wing shut.

The howls of the transformations could be heard even in the staff room. Tonks was seated on a chair reading the newspaper when they started. She could not help glancing towards the door in fear, but was relieved to see that the others did the same. Apparently in this case, familiarity did not breed contempt. The howls continued for several minutes. Tonks was sure that they were pain-filled and tried desperately not to think of Remus suffering that.

When the werewolves had all transformed the howls ceased for the most part, and everyone seemed to relax. Tonks looked around and noticed that of the staff in this particular room, none lived in Yorkshire, according to her list. Slowly, not trying to attract attention, she stood up and left that room. There were several other staff rooms. Two were empty, and the other also contained a majority of non-Yorkshire attendants. Something was up, and Tonks was here to investigate it.

She headed to Wing C first, to check that Remus was okay. Befor entering, she cast a strong Notice-Me-Not charm. It was not fool-proof, but she did not have an Invisibility Cloak to hand. Then, she entered the Wing.

The cells were now full of wolves. Tonks halted at her first sight of the transformed werewolf. These werewolves were all calm, either eating or sleeping. Some of them turned to look at her, but she did not detect any great animosity. Still, they were quite frightening in appearance. Tonks sighed; she understood better now why Remus kept this to himself, but she knew that she could have helped him better if she had really known what happened.

As she walked along, her mind wandered to Remus. It had been so good to see him on Ilkley Moor again after all the time that had passed, although the circumstances left much to be desired. Their break-up had not been bitter, but Tonks had given up on persuading him to commit. They had spoken about it many times, and Tonks had simply grown tired of arguing with him. She had done so for a year when he had broken things off during the war, and she had simply lost the will to fight him so long again when he was clearly strongly opposed to having children. Circumstances changed, however, and Tonks had changed with them. Having Remus living in the house was comfortable, and she hoped that he would stay a while. He also seemed to get on with Cal, which was a blessing.

Her thoughts were cut short when she saw the first empty werewolf cell. She hurried up, and noted that two of the cells were empty. She hurried further along the Wing, and noticed that two cells were empty, and she had no way to identify Remus. Cursing, she sprinted back to the door and on to Wing B. She did not know if those cells had been empty or not.

As soon as she opened the door to Wing B, she knew that something unusual was going on - the shuffling noises gave it away. She moved slowly this time, trying to avoid stressing the Notice-Me-Not charm. She saw Arthur Cromwell and Dave Chapman at a cell door. They were opening it. Squinting in concentration, Tonks altered her ears to make them more sensitive.

Cromwell was whistling, of all things, as he walked into the cell without fear. He stopped and said, "Stay still." He then wrapped a chain around the wolf's neck and said, "Come." The wolf followed docilely. Tonks approached cautiously and saw Chapman do the same thing with another wolf. He said jauntily, "Well, that's our quota. Where are we headed this time?"

Cromwell said, "Not sure. I've got the Portkey here." Tonks eyes widened and she scooted forward rapidly. Cromwell pulled a ring out of his pocket and placed it on the ground. He whispered something and gestured his wand. The ring grew, becoming a yellow hoop. He pulled on the chain roughly. "Paw on the hoop, dog." His chained werewolf whined and placed a paw flat on the ground over the hoop.

At the werewolf's whine, some of the other werewolves in the corridor started to growl. Cromwell looked round with irritation and snarled, "Hurry up, Dave."

Tonks took a chance and crawled beside Cromwell's feet. She reached out her arm and extended it, using a bit of a metamorphosis to make it even longer. She had her palm on the hoop when Cromwell said the key word.

As soon as they landed at their destination she pulled away, restoring her arm to its normal proportions. She looked around, assessing the location. They were in a clearing in a wood. Tonks shuffled backwards and pulled herself up into the relative safety of a tree.

The two attendants stayed put, looking round nervously. After about half an hour, a hooded and cloaked man Apparated in with a small pop. Tonks pulled her glasses off with irritation and improved her eyes, but the man's face was obscured by the darkness of his hood. He said curtly, "Chapman, Cromwell."

Cromwell said shortly, "Here are the two wolves you wanted, sir. I also had words with Tindale. He's changed his mind."

The cloaked man nodded. "Good work, Cromwell. I'll contact Tindale in due course. Now, there is a Muggle village along that trail." He stepped up to each wolf in turn and stared into their eyes. Tonks had the impression that he was performing some kind of Legilimency. He then stood up and said, "Meet me here in two hours." He Apparated away.

Tonks cursed; he had Apparated away too quickly for her to sense his destination. She quickly shifted her focus, though, and followed Cromwell and Chapman, who were leading the werewolves along the indicated trail. Tonks picked up a stout dead branch and quickly muttered a series of charms over it. It would not be a Comet 260, let alone a Firebolt, but it would serve her purpose. It allowed her to fly ahead of the two men without making too much noise.

She quickly spotted a Muggle couple, out for a romantic stroll. She focussed and flicked her wand, "_Aversio_." The two Muggles turned around and started to walk back to their homes very quickly.

The two wolves caught a scent and howled. Tonks felt a worm of fear in her belly. That howl was not pain-filled; it was hungry, and angry. She swooped lower and followed the wolves. They twisted and often stopped to sniff the air. Tonks whispered, "Point-Me Muggle." Her wand spun round and she followed it without question.

She came across two tents, with a group of teenagers clustered outside, sharing ghost tales. The wolf howl sounded again, and one of the teenagers said, "Don't be so wet, Kimberly. Everyone knows that there haven't been any wolves on the British Isles for centuries."

Tonks landed just outside the clearing, looking for any ideas. There was another howl, and Tonks spun round. She cast an Odour Executor spell on the clearing, and hoped that it would be strong enough; after all, household spells were not her strong point. She then cast another spell to make her smell appetizing to a wolf and waited until she saw the first flash of grey fur in the distance. She gulped and started to run through the undergrowth.

She soon knew that her plan had worked, as it was clear that both wolves were snapping at her heels. A few well-placed Plant Engorgement Charms had slowed them down, but Tonks knew that her time was running out. Suddenly her foot caught on a root and she fell flat on her face. Panicking, she scrambled to her feet and felt the snap of a jaw tearing her trouser leg. She screamed in fear and frustration and dashed forward, desperate to get away from those infectious teeth.

The undergrowth helped her, as it thickened suddenly. Tonks clawed her way through and dashed behind a tree, fingering her wand. A quick spell created a slick of thick mud that the two werewolves duly skidded into. One slid into the other, pushing it onto its side. Tonks drew a shaky breath and thanked her lucky stars that she had had enough presence of mind to keep hold of her makeshift broom. She lifted herself up into the sky and managed to lead the wolves onwards away from the Muggle village by flying close to the ground.

The attendants eventually called a halt to the chase, using a _Sonorus_ charm to call the wolves to them. Tonks cancelled her wolf-attracting scent and followed. The two attendants were panting, obviously having run a long way. They re-chained the wolves, and dragged them back to the original clearing, obviously not happier. One of them cuffed his wolf. "I thought you were after those tents, you fool dog. What were you doing, chasing shadows?"

Back at the clearing, the hooded man was already waiting, tapping his fingers against his arm in impatience. At his feet were two Stunned bodies, a woman and a boy who looked about ten years old. Tonks sucked in a breath in surprise. They had clearly been bitten by something wolf-like. She dropped to the ground and tried to creep as close as she could without attracting attention.

The man said, "Where have you been? And have you no victims?"

Cromwell jerked a thumb at the two wolves. "These two led us on a right merry chase all over this damned wood. I thought they had a scent, but whatever it was, it escaped."

The man snarled. "Incompetents. Well, get back to Sorrel's." He turned in dismissal and started to pick up the two Stunned people. Tonks watched him very closely, keeping her senses attuned. She would only have one chance to catch his Apparation. It was very difficult to detect someone's destination, and very few people knew how to do it.

She watched, and then launched herself blindly after him. To her great relief, she did not end up splinched, and the noise of her Apparation was not noticed. She was in a corridor, close to this cloaked man. She flattened back to the wall and then carefully followed him. He walked quickly along the corridor, with the two bodies floating behind him, and opened a door that led into a large hall filled with transformed werewolves. Tonks hesitated before entering. Her memory of her close brush with lycanthropy minutes before was vivid. Summoning her courage, she silently reinforced her Notice-Me-Not charm and stepped into the room. The werewolves were not chained up, but avoided the coaked man. She stepped as close to him as she dared. The wolves sense her, she could tell. Their nostrils flared and some of them lifted themselves up off their haunches. Tonks fought to keep her breathing silent and concentrated on the man's back, and not the horde of werewolves.

The cloaked man suddenly whirled round. Tonks saw his cloak ripple as he started to move and dropped to the floor, hoping for cover behind the floating bodies. The man did not look towards her, instead glaring at the wolves. "Get away."

He obviously thought that the wolves who had been sniffing at Tonks were following him. Tonks was relieved to see them slink away. The cloaked man finished crossing the hall and led his two captives into another room where he laid them out on beds. Tonks watched for a few moments but he said nothing, so she decided to explore and find out where she was.

She stepped back into the large hall, keeping close to the wall and going up a staircase she had noticed earlier. Just as she was leaving, she heard some growls. Two male wolves were circling each other, their teeth bared. One of them growled loudly, and the other leaped forward, snapping at the growler's neck. The two wolves fought violently, tearing long strips of blood from each other. Tonks found that she could not turn away.

Eventually, the cloaked man opened the door and took in the scene. "Quiet, wolves. You're disturbing your new kin."

The spell was broken and Tonks scuttled up the stairs. She roamed around, trying to get a feel for the location. There were a few more corridors, but they led to a series of what appeared to be dormitories. Tonks found a door that led out of the small complex, and after listening at it, opened it carefully. Seeing no one on the other side, she quickly stepped through and shut it. From this side, the door was not at all obvious. It appeared to be part of a grand tapestry. Tonks took in the tapestry carefully, making sure that she would remember it in the future.

The room she found herself in looked like a house in a grand mansion, with rich furnishings, a stark comparison to the utilitarian comforts in the werewolf dungeon. Tonks felt her skin crawl but forced herself to continue exploring. Through a keyhole she saw a man sitting in a study, but his back was facing her. She found a library and rapidly browsed the shelves. She flicked through a couple of volumes, and saw that several of the flyleaves were marked 'Roger Parkinson'.

Tonks smiled grimly, glad that this mission was yielding information, and muttered _Tempus_. There were still two hours before dawn. She continued to prowl around, and wandered into a second wing of the mansion. She had, as yet, found no other entrances to the werewolf compound.

She spied through another keyhole, sharpening her eyesight, and almost gasped in surprise. She could see a man sitting on a bed, embracing a woman. The man had a shock of bright red hair, and when he turned to nuzzle the woman's neck, Tonks recognized Ron Weasley. The woman in his arms was Pansy Parkinson, looking slim and elegant. Ron muttered something, and Pansy giggled girlishly. Tonks's lip curled. Pansy said, "Oh Ron, I'm so glad you came. I was ever so worried when you said that you had to stay late."

Tonks heard Ron say lightly, "The Ministry was ever so worried about the attacks, and wanted everyone out making sure that nothing happened. I think there were only five Aurors who weren't on duty tonight. But, as you can see, I got let out of school early. There were no reports my region, and so I cancelled our surveillance. After all, werewolves can't exactly Apparate somewhere when they're transformed. I hope nothing happened anywhere else." He started to kiss her neck more enthusiastically. Tonks was about to look away, when she saw Pansy stare over Ron's shoulder with a very calculating, malicious smile. Tonks backed away, wondering whether Ron knew anything about the werewolf dungeon in this very house.

She muttered the _Tempus_ charm, and realised that she had to return to Sorrel's. She tried to find an isolated room and Apparated back to Sorrel's. As far as she could tell, no one had noticed her absence. Silently she went back into the staff room and picked up the newspaper again. There was too much to think about.

The moon set, there were another series of howls, that rapidly transmuted to very human shrieks. Tonks kept her nose in the newspaper, combatting a deep fatigue. It had been a long time since she had had to use so much magic. A little after the noise had ceased, the attendants got up and moved to distribute clothing.

She walked into Wing B, trying to avoid Cromwell and Chapman. The cells were now full of naked people, for the most part curled up. Tonks flinched at the despair she saw in their eyes. Still, she was relieved to see that there were very few serious injuries. The Wolfsbane obviously worked. None of the werewolves would meet her eyes. She hated to think of Remus like this, cold and naked in a cell. She resolved to give him a hug when she saw him next. She smiled at that; she felt in need of a hug as well.

Once the clothes had been distributed and the cells opened, the werewolves moved to go and get some of the breakfast offered. Tonks carefully avoided Cromwell and Chapman; she had absolutely no desire to speak to them. She spotted Remus from afar but made no move to contact him. As soon as she was able, she left, and returned to Harry Tindale's flat. He was still there, Stunned on the couch. Tonks knelt before him and, with sharper twinge of conscience, Obliviated him. She hated to do that to anybody, but had no real alternative. Then, she moved around to the door and quickly released the Stunning spell and followed it with a Sleep spell. Hopefully Harry Tindale would wake up thinking he had done a hard night's work at the Institution. Now all Tonks had to do was figure out how to stop him mixing with the cloaked man, or Chapman and Cromwell. That would take some thought.

A wave of fatigue washed over her, and she Apparated straight back to Mulligan Street. Cal was waiting in the living room, and looked at her in concern. She glanced down, and saw that she was still wearing Tindale's body. She shook like a dog drying itself and effortlessly morphed back to her usual feminine form, rendered slightly comical by the misfitting clothes, and then held up a hand. "No questions at the moment, Cal. I need some sleep or I'll fall over, and I don't particularly want to tell this story more than once. Send an owl to Hermione and ask her to come over this evening if she can."

Cal did not argue, and she stumbed upstairs and into her bed.


	17. What Do We Do Now?

Remus sat quietly in the living room, waiting for Tonks to wait up. Calvin had told him that she had asked him to send for Hermione, and then gone straight to bed. That could mean nothing good. He nibbled on his thumb and then decided to flick through the _Daily Prophet_. It had arrived late, filled with talk about the full moon. One young witch, only twenty-two years old, had been reported missing, feared bitten. Reporters based in several wizarding areas told of blood-chilling howls in the forests. Apparently Aurors had been stationed all over the country. In the opinion pages, one writer called for forced confinement of all werewolves, all the time. Another called for all werewolves to be forcibly put down. Remus made himself read every word; forewarned is forearmed.

He was glad he did so; one of the pieces linked the werewolf threat to the actions of the Cunning Changeling, who was murdering people in their figurative beds. The writer inveighed against the threat posed by 'shape-shifting freaks', and called for trenchant action.

Eventually, Tonks came downstairs and rushed over and pulled him into a tight hug. Remus reciprocated, and murmured into her ear, "I'm so glad you're okay, Nymph." He could feel her smile against his shoulder.

"The same goes for you, Remus. I'm not letting you go back there. We'll find somewhere here that can be certified as a secure zone. I'll get you the Wolfsbane."

Remus smiled and gave her a peck on the cheek before pulling out of the hug. "Thanks for the offer, Nymph, but it's not all that bad at Sorrel's."

She hugged herself. "Don't argue with me. It's bad enough, and it gets worse." She paused for a long moment. "You don't have to go through with it, Remus. There are _some_ people out in the world who don't think that all werewolves are naturally evil. I think there are plenty of normal people who manage to be that all by themselves."

Remus laughed sardonically and threw the newspaper over to her. "Well, it sure is getting worse. Look at the article on page eleven. You'd better watch your step."

She grinned cheekily. "I always watch my step, buster." Her smile disappeared as she read the article.

Hermione appeared by Floo at almost exactly five o'clock. She looked rather flushed, and said, "I dashed to get here as soon as I could after my stint in the office. What went on last night? Your message was rather brief. I was on tenterhooks all last night."

They all sat down with a cup of tea, and Tonks launched into a recital of her night. She carefully avoided her proxy identity, saying only that she had been looking after Wing B. She did name Cromwell and Chapman, though, along with her suspicions that they were being paid in drugs. She also carefully avoided mentioning her brush with werewolf jaws in the forest. Both Remus and Hermione remained silent until she had finished, although Remus saw Hermione flinch when Tonks described her encounter with Ron and Pansy. For himself, Remus was appalled at the risks that Tonks had taken, and did not hesitate to say so. "Tonks! What were you thinking? That was incredibly dangerous."

Tonks shrugged irritatingly. "Who dares wins." She added defensively, "I am an Auror, and I am trained for this sort of thing. I did saved a couple of lives."

Hermione nodded. "Yes. Those people were so lucky you were there. I guess the woman you saw was the witch in the papers, and from your story, the boy must be a Muggle."

Tonks nodded, chewing her lip. "Yep, I reckon so. I guess the other wolves I saw in the Parkinson house must either be unregistered or Muggles by origin."

Hermione squinted in thought. "How many werewolves did you see in the dungeon place?"

"I'm not sure. It felt like a lot, though, I'll tell you that for nothing." Tonks paused, and thought. "The hall felt like it was quite big, but I'm quite prepared to admit that I was absolutely terrified. There were the two who fought, and then at least four that seemed to be sniffing about me. But perhaps overall there weren't that many now that I think about it. Less than ten, I'd say."

Remus said, "It's odd that they'd use the Sorrel werewolves to infect people when they have a secret supply."

Hermione shrugged. "It does seem a bit strange. Perhaps they were new werewolves, or something like that."

"Now that you mention it, I think they were a bit smaller than the wolves I saw in Sorrel's," said Tonks. "Perhaps they were just kids."

Remus said, "We've no way of knowing." He hesitated then. "Was I one of the werewolves who was kidnapped?"

Tonks closed her eyes. "I'm sorry, Remus, but I just don't know. I checked in your wing, but I couldn't recognize your wolf."

Hermione interrupted briskly. "I'm sure you weren't, Remus. I'd bet anything that the werewolves used are those who weren't on the _Prophet_'s list. We're up against some professionals. So don't worry."

Remus nodded his thanks, although her logic had not really persuaded him. Hermione then pulled on her lip nervously, before saying, "Tonks, do you really think that Ron didn't know what was going on?"

Tonks said, slowly, "He said that he was on duty all night. That's easily checked. From what he said, it sounded like he didn't know anything." She paused, remembering the conversation. "His voice did sound a bit strange though, as if he wasn't being too serious."

Hermione looked glum, and so Remus quickly said, "I'm sure he didn't have anything to do with it. After all, this is Ron we're talking about. Harry's best friend. He's a big man in the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. He's not going to be involved in some illegal werewolf farm."

"He is engaged to Parkinson, though," said Hermione miserably. When no one said anything, she said weakly, "I'm sure he was at the Auror office though."

Tonks said, "Everyone makes mistakes though." Her joke failed to lift the silence, and there was a general pause as they digested everything.

Remus voiced the key question. "What in the name of all that's magical do we do now? We appear to have a massive criminal conspiracy that reaches into Sorrel's Institution, kidnapping and creating werewolves for unknown purposes."

Hermione said, "They also have the press on their side. The _Prophet _is dancing to their tune, pushing the werewolves into Sorrel's."

Tonks said ruminatively, "Well, the _Prophet_ would write this rubbish without encouragement, to be fair. Perhaps you've got it the wrong way round. Perhaps the werewolves are not the objective, just the means."

"But who benefits from having an army of werewolves?" said Remus.

"Someone who wants people to be scared," said Hermione. "Perhaps this isn't about the werewolves, but about their effect on people. Someone wants the wizarding community in Britain scared."

Tonks nodded, "That might be right. We need more information though. Are the Parkinsons behind this? I can hardly believe that. We need to find out if someone is influencing the _Prophet_. I can start work on that if I get some free time at work.

"The way I see it, though, I have two pretty big problems. I need to make sure that my choice of cover doesn't get back onto the Stardust wagon because of what I did. The second problem is what to report to the Aurors. I was witness to some pretty big crimes, and I have the link to the Parkinson manor. If I can get a warrant, we would be able to find that dungeon."

Remus interrupted. "No, without the full moon there are no werewolves, and there won't be any proof unless you can get blood samples. Frankly, I don't think you're going to get a warrant just on your say-so. Especially if you say what you did last night. I mean, most of that was illegal, right?"

Tonks shifted uncomfortably, and Hermione said, "Plus, Ron would probably let Pansy know, as they are engaged, and then they would be able to cover their tracks before you arrived."

Tonks said, "But then what? We have to do something. If I had some better evidence, perhaps it would be possible to get a warrant. I'm sure I'd be able to find something out with that. Ah, who am I kidding? Nobody in the Aurors is going to believe that the werewolf attacks are being run using werewolves kept in Sorrel's by some guy in a hood working out of the Parkinson manor. It sounds crazy to me, and I lived through it."

Hermione ignored Tonks' rant. "What if there is something in the Wolfsbane. It sounds like the wolves were being controlled in some way, and it might be something in the potion. I can get it analyzed, if you give me the sample, Remus."

Tonks was nodding in agreement. "If the Wolfsbane does contain any extra ingredients that would count as proof of a sort. It is being manufactured by the Parkinsons in any case."

Hermione said, "I think that's our only real avenue at this point. But, be careful Tonks. From reading the _Daily Prophet_ today, I'd say that Metamorphmagi were next on the list of suspect citizens." She snorted. "After all that you did last night, I'd say that Metamorphmagi were a good sight more dangerous than werewolves!"

"Ha, you didn't nearly get bitten."

Remus said in shock, "You were nearly bitten!"

Tonks blushed and tried to make light of it. "Not really. Just let one of them get a bit too close for comfort." Trying to distract him, she continued, "Perhaps you could go and sniff around Ilkley Moor in the next few days. See if you can find out any indication that there is a pack of werewolves around there. Or if you can find out anything about the people in the area."

Remus nodded, and Hermione said, "The other thing to do is to look in the Muggle press, to see if there have been any other incidents on full moons."

"I can do all that," said Remus. "After all, my previous employer wasn't too happy that I had to take a couple of days off and put an end to my contract."

Tonks and Hermione both sighed and stared into the fire. Finally, Hermione said, "This wasn't what we fought for. I thought, when Voldemort was killed, that the world would become a better place. That there wouldn't be any prejudice on stupid grounds. If this is what the world's like now, I can't imagine what it would have been like if Voldemort had won."

Remus laughed bitterly. "It's like Mad-Eye Moody always used to say. _Constant vigilance_, or they'll be sneaking in by the back door."

The moody silence was broken by a sharp knock on the door. Tonks was about to get up when they heard Cal's footsteps rushing down the stairs. As he opened the door he said loudly, "Bobby Drake, you're early. Dinner's not ready yet."

Tonks glanced over at Hermione, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"

Draco and Cal walked into the living room then. Remus noticed that, while Draco was looking Hermione up and down rather lasciviously, Cal's eyes avoided her.

Hermione said coolly, "Good afternoon, Nero." She paused and looked at Draco, obviously waiting for an introduction.

Before anyone could say anything, Draco opened his mouth. "If it isn't my favourite Mudblood, all grown up."

Cal and Tonks both shouted, "Draco!"

Hermione stared at him for a moment, and then obviously made the link. "Draco Malfoy?" Without waiting for an answer she stepped up and slapped him. "Obviously you haven't changed a bit."

Tonks said, "I'm sure that my dolt of a cousin is just about to apologize." She stared at Draco fiercely.

Hermione did not give him the opportunity. "I was just leaving anyway. Remus, if you could give me the potion sample."

Remus quickly gave it to her. As she swept out of the door, she said regally, "I will be in touch."

As the door closed, Tonks turned to Draco and said, "Draco, what were you thinking? I thought you'd grown out of all of that rubbish."

Draco rubbed the red spot on his cheek. "Hey, no need to be all huffy. I was just making a joke. Sorry no one appreciated it."

Remus said quietly, "It wasn't funny.'

"Jeez," said Draco. "I'm Muddier than any Mudblood these days. I mean, look at me." He pointed to his Muggle clothes. "She didn't recognize me, I was just giving her a clue from our schooldays. I thought she'd be able to take a joke."

Nobody seemed to be impressed by this explanation, and so dinner passed in an uncomfortable silence. Remus noticed that Draco's steak ended up rather charred and when he looked over at Cal, Cal winked slyly.


	18. Two More Interludes

**Interlude C – Red Fire**

Ron Weasley walked into the Muggle cafe and paused in the door frame. He quickly saw what he was looking for, a brown-haired young woman sat at a table for two, and marched over. He nodded rather formally, and said, "Hello, Hermione."

She said quietly, "Hello, Ron."

"I'll just get a cup of tea and I'll be right back." He turned quickly, and Hermione watched him move through the Muggle crowd. She was biting her lip when he returned and sat down.

He wrapped his long fingers around the mug and took a sip. Hermione had always wondered how he did not burn his tongue. He relaxed back and said, "How are you, Hermione?"

His voice was rather stiff, and she knew that he had not wanted to come. "I'm okay, Ron. And you?" She frowned to herself; her voice was too weak.

"Never better. Work's good. Life's good. I'm even getting in a bit of Quidditch." His voice was full of vigour and contentment.

Hermione looked away, and tried to inject her own voice with some equivalent cheeriness. "What have you been working on lately?"

Ron looked at her suspiciously. "Is this really what you want to talk about?"

She sighed, feeling like a wrung-out cloth. "No, but humour me for the moment, Ron."

He pursed his lips, and then said, "There's been quite a lot going on lately. Mostly related to werewolves, actually. I was involved in the safeguards over the full moon. One of the scum got through somehow, though. Not on my patch, though. You probably read about it, though."

She nodded, and tried to rouse herself out of her stupor. "It's such a shame. If only the system treated them a bit more fairly, maybe none of them would transform unsafely."

"Maybe? That's a big risk to take."

Ron did not look so friendly at the moment, and Hermione stared at him, and her earlier limpness washed away. "But it's one that we have to take. After all, they're people too. They should have a bit of freedom."

Ron's ear tips turned red, but he was no longer a boy, and his temper was more controlled these days. "Freedom? Rights? What about the people, the children, who get killed, Hermione? What about their rights? Shouldn't they free to live without fear?" He paused and started to tap the table, obviously trying to regain his composure. "How many children have to die for one werewolf to have the right to transform with no controls?"

Hermione tried to respond, but was too shocked by his tone to gather any form of coherent argument. She could only stammer, "But what about Remus?"

"Remus Lupin? He's a good man, I'll grant you that, but he is still a werewolf. He is still a danger to society. All it takes is one slip. I honestly don't know what old Dumbledore was thinking when he hired him. I didn't ever think about it when I was a kid, but now I've seen too many dead bodies to think that the risk is worth it, Hermione. Too many." He turned away, staring blankly at the floor. Hermione reach over to touch his arm. At her touch, his face whipped back to her's. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, Hermione. We all know that. Remus was a good friend, but, I have to say that Snape had the rights of it, and you know that's something I never thought I'd say."

Hermione was shocked into silence.

Ron looked away again, before saying, "But, you didn't ask me here to talk about werewolves, I imagine. What did you want to talk about?" His blue eyes locked onto her own eyes.

Hermione gulped and nervously looked away. Now that it had come to it, this did not seem like a very good idea. "I wanted to ... I wanted to ... warn you about Parkinson." She gabbled out the last few words.

"Pansy?" Ron looked coldly furious. "I should have guessed that you were just jealous." He stood up abruptly and pulled his collar up. "I am engaged to Pansy, not to you. You should see beyond your silly school prejudices sometime, Hermione. We can't all live in the past."

And with that, he walked out.

**Interlude D – A Madman in the Ministry**

The Ministry of Magic was quiet, as outside it was the middle of the night. One man had remained behind, and was seated behind his desk, scrutinizing some papers. There was a shallow knock on the door. The man at the desk looked up sharply, and stared at the door for a few seconds, before picking up his wand and with a short gesture, opened the door.

A man slipped through, carefully closing the door behind him. He wore the face of a certain Mr. Jason Cartwright, employee in the Department of Magical Creatures.

The man at the desk looked him over and gestured towards a seat. He said, softly, "Proteus. You're late. And put on your real face."

The Metamorphmagus in the chair laughed softly, but obligingly shifted his features to those of a young Greek god with straw blond curls and cornflower blue eyes. "Always ready to serve, sir." His tongue lingered on the last word, turning it into a contemptuous insult.

The man at the desk merely smiled. "I have the rest of your payment for the Dantan case."

"Thank you." The Changeling smiled widely, like a shark. It looked quite out of place on his innocent-looking face.

"And I have other missions for you to perform, Proteus."

"As long as the payment is sufficient, I live to serve, sir." Again the last word was thick with contempt.

The man behind the desk stared again at the Metamorphmagus, as if trying to judge him. "You know why I ask you to do these things. You must do."

"Of course. You are planning to use my missions to whip up feeling against Metamorphmagi. I imagine that you have various plans to control us waiting in the wings." Proteus' tone was light.

"Then why do you do it? Don't you care about your own kind?"

Proteus raised an eyebrow. "How many Metamorphmagi are there in the United Kingdom?"

"Two. You, from Greece, and from the birth records I have, the only other is Nymphadora Tonks, Auror. Before that, the last recorded birth in this country was two hundred years ago."

"Then why do you ask me about my kind? There is no 'my kind'. We have no kinship - I know nothing of this 'Nymphadora Tonks', so why should her life interest me? As long as you can pay me, I will be satisfied. This is really about other non-humans, no?"

The man behind the desk smiled lazily. "You are so ... practical, Proteus. But know this, I do not plan to stop with the United Kingdom. There will be no place to run, no place to hide, for you and your kind, unless you are with me." He paused, and said, "I was very pleased with your work on the Dantan case. It was a big step up from robberies and the like. I would not want you to be having any second thoughts."

When Proteus made no move to say anything, the man pointed to an envelope on the desk, "The key to a temporary Gringotts account is here, with your usual payment inside, and your next set of instructions."

"As generous as ever," murmured Proteus. He stood languidly and padded over to take the key.

The man at the desk said, "I may ask her to lend her talents to my campaign. I have some information that may persuade her. Would the chance to court her be a temptation to you, Proteus? Do you dream of fathering a race of Metamorphmagi?"

Proteus smirked. "I do not dream, sir. As you said, I am a practical man." He left, and hurried out of the Ministry, shifting into Mr. Cartwright's body as he did so. He waited until he was out on the street, in a light rain, before shifting into a non-descript form, and then he started to laugh at the very thought of courting Nymphadora Tonks. When he recovered himself, he set off along the street, bouncing and humming a Muggle song.


	19. Looking For Work

Remus pulled his rather threadbare robes around him tightly, and grimaced. This time there was no snow in Ilkley, but there was a cold wind whipping about. He moved to run a hand through his hair, but stopped himself just in time. In preparation for his 'undercover' mission, Calvin had cut his hair, dyed it a rich dark brown and gelled it up into the same spikes that both he and Draco sported. With the aid of a few small glamours and some Muggle make-up, Remus was pretending to be a relatively young, out-of-work, wizard. He rather suspected that Calvin had exaggerated slightly, but it was too late now. With a sigh he walked up to the front door of the Parkinson Manor and knocked sharply.

About thirty seconds later, the door creaked open. Remus could not help peering forward, and jumped back suddenly as a large nose peered out at him. The nose was set in a thin, pinched face, and the accompanying eyes stared for a long moment at Remus. Finally, the doorwarden spoke. "Good morning. You must be John Lupin?"

Remus nodded eagerly. "Yes, Mr. Birtwhistle. We spoke via the Floo an hour ago. I'm here to ask about ..." He filled his voice with youthful enthusiasm, but was swiftly interrupted.

"Yes. Please come in, Mr. Lupin, and follow me."

Remus followed the man, who led him into a narrow hallway and then into a tastefully decorated study. Mr. Birtwhistle took a seat behind the desk, and indicated that Remus should sit.

"I am Mr. Parkinson's steward. As such, I run his household and liaise between his different business operations. As such, I am responsible for recruiting and assigning people to different parts of the various Parkinson businesses. We are always looking for people who are keen to work, Mr. Lupin, and have work for all skill levels. I do warn you, however, that Mr. Parkinson insists upon personally interviewing all applicants, however briefly. I will review your documents and preliminary application, and decide on what kind of work might be suitable, and then pass on my advice to Mr. Parkinson."

Remus ducked his head, and found it surprisingly easy to find the requisite nervous look. "Very good, Mr. Birtwhistle. I've filled in the form you sent over by Floo earlier. And here's my papers." He pulled some slightly crumpled papers out of his robe pocket, tried fruitlessly to straighten them, and handed them over with a crooked grin. The papers were the weak link in his ploy. There was his birth certificate and some hastily mocked up O.W.L. certificates, and a reference from a previous job; Remus hoped that they would be convincing. If not, he would have to run pretty fast. It was unusual to request a birth certificate, and so Remus had decided to use his middle name so that he could use a copy of his real birth certificate, only lightly modified. That should get round the magical tests for validity.

Mr. Birtwhistle flicked through the papers, somewhat distastefully, before setting them down. "Mr. Parkinson is a busy man, Mr. Lupin, but he should be able to see you later today. So, your references state that you have experience with construction?"

"Yes, Mr. Birtwhistle. I worked with the Bulstrode Building Corporation for a few months, on Puddlemere United's new pitch. I've also served as a courier for a little bit, for Windall's Broom Boys."

Mr. Birtwhistle sneered a little and glanced down at Remus' fake papers. "So I see. And in which field of magic are you strongest, Mr. Lupin?"

Remus said eagerly, "Oh, Charms! That was always my strong spot. I've got an excellent Digging Charm, if I say so myself."

Mr. Birtwhistle nodded absently, and pulled out his wand. He quickly performed the incantation that checked the validity of the birth certificate, and both it and Remus glowed a soft blue for a second. Remus tried not to sigh with relief; it had worked. Mr. Birtwhistle looked up unapologetically. "If you are to work with us, I should warn you that several of our businesses interact with Muggle companies. I hope that that will not be a problem. We have an excellent rating with the International Statute of Secrecy Organization, and Mr. Parkinson would be most upset if we lost out ISSO 996 rating."

Remus nodded quickly, "That won't be a problem at all, Mr. Birtwhistle."

"Good." Mr. Birtwhistle paused. "One final question, and I am very sorry to ask this, but are you related to Mr. Remus Lupin, the werewolf." He said the last word distastefully.

Remus had prepared for this question, and nodded his head regretfully. "I'm afraid so, Mr. Birtwhistle. He's my second cousin, twice removed. I've never met him, though." He looked steadfastly at the floor, trying to look contrite.

Mr. Birtwhistle nodded. "Thank you for being honest with me, Mr. Lupin. Your relation will not prejudice your case."

"Oh, thank you, sir. So many people can be so quick to judge."

Mr. Birtwhistle smiled generously. "Mr. Parkinson is a very good employer. Now, he should be able to see you in a few minutes, and after that we can discuss your pay."

Remus nodded eagerly, and followed Mr. Birtwhistle through several corridors to another study. The Parkinson Manor was rather large. Roger Parkinson was seated in the second study, at a desk covered in papers. He was a large, rather tubby man, with a neatly trimmed beard. He looked up as Mr. Birtwhistle approached, and said, "Ah, Magnus. Is this the applicant you mentioned?" He smiled welcomingly at Remus. "John Lupin, wasn't it?"

Remus hurried forward, trying to look self-conscious. "Yes, Mr. Parkinson. Ever so pleased to meet you."

"And how did you hear about my businesses, John?"

"I was in the area, round Ilkley, and everyone said that if a body was looking for work, he could find it with the Parkinsons. I want to work, if there's a place for me."

Roger Parkinson smiled expansively, looking for all the world like a benevolent father. "I'm always happy to allow people to reach their potential, John. I hope that you will fit in here." He paused, as if something had just occurred to him. "Are you related to Remus Lupin, John?"

Remus grimaced. "I was just saying to Mr. Birtwhistle here, that, er, he's my second cousin, twice removed. I've never met him personally. Can't say as that I care for werewolves much."

Mr. Parkinson laughed at that. "Please forgive me for asking, John. I'm sure it's a sore spot. Now, if you'll forgive me one more intrusion ..."

Remus nodded, and Roger picked his wand up off his desk, and gestured, "Reveal." Remus winced, and felt the glamours disappear. He hoped that the make-up was convincing.

He twisted his hands together. "I'm sorry, sir. I was just trying to look my best for the interview."

Roger Parkinson looked him up and down, and laughed again. "Don't fret, my boy. Quite understandable. We just like to check that people are who they say they are."

Not long after, Remus was walking towards _Hengist's Cup_ with a spring in his step for any observers. He was to start work tomorrow on some unspecified construction project in the neighbourhood. He Flooed out of the pub to the _Leaky Cauldron_ and then strolled along Diagon Alley, trying to spot any tails. He tried to look like a silly youth with the prospect of cash in the future, and browsed through all of the shops. He slipped inside Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes, feeling it would fit with his assumed persona. The Weasley twins no longer served at the counter; instead a sour-looking blonde was sat there. A large, mottled egg caught his eye. It looked like a dragon's egg, and it made him think of Tonks' current work assignment. He touched it delicately, a bit worried about possible side-effects. As soon as he made contact, the egg cracked open with a bang and an illusory Hungarian Horntail reared up, beat its wings and breathed a plume of flame towards Remus. Remus was startled, even though he had been expecting a surprise. The illusion was surprisingly detailed.

He glanced over at the saleswoman, and she shrugged. "It repairs itself in a few seconds, and is ready to go again. We have versions of all of the main Dragon species." She sounded rather bored. The illusory dragon started to circle Remus' head, before diving towards the floor and swooping back up into the face of the assistant. With a little roar it sent forth another jet of flame. The assistant looked very annoyed and said sharply, "_Finite Incantatem_." The dragon disappeared instantly.

Remus suddenly pictured throwing the trick egg to an unsuspecting Tonks, and was sorely tempted to buy one. They could all use cheering up. He smirked and bounced over, figuring that it would fit in with his character if anyone were following. In fact, it was positively his duty to buy one. "How much?"

"Five Galleons."

"Five Galleons!" Remus did not have to fake surprise. "That's an awful lot for a joke."

The woman shrugged. "The illusion's pretty complicated. And it's guaranteed for five years."

"It _is _quite funny, isn't it? I know someone it would be perfect for." He paused. "I guess I can afford a treat like this just this once though. I've just got a new job, up north with Roger Parkinson."

The woman stared at him blankly for a moment longer. "Right. Wait here, and I'll go and get you one. What Dragon do you want?"

"Oh, a Chinese Fireball, I think."

The woman sauntered into the storeroom, and returned a few minutes later with a box containing the joke egg. "Here you go. Have fun."

Remus nodded, paid, shrank the box and picked it up. He was a bit bemused as to how the woman kept her job; her sales manner had been less than ideal. He glanced down at the box and grinned. He hoped that Tonks would find it funny.

Back in Diagon Alley he wandered for a bit longer, before Apparating twice to try to avoid any pursuit. He ended up in a small alley close to the _Green Dragon_. A quick spell altered his robes into something a bit more Muggle-friendly, and then he walked into the pub. It was not even two o'clock, and so he was just in time for lunch.

Draco was serving at the bar, and nodded companionably at Remus, clearly not recognizing him. Remus smirked, and ordered sausage and mash. After finishing, he waited until Draco left at the end of the shift. Following him out of the door, he tapped him on the shoulder, and laughed as Draco jumped and whirled round. "Hi Bobby."

Draco looked at him, and then figured it out. "Ha, Lupin! I thought you weren't going to show. Like the hair, by the way, brush-head! Leastways, I reckon Tonks will approve."

Remus scowled and ran his hand through his hair, mussing it up. Draco laughed, "Well, that's an improvement."

Last night, over lunch, Remus had let slip that he planned to go to a Muggle library to look over old newspapers. Draco had revealed that he had a computer and 'The Internet' at his flat. Remus had not quite understood what 'The Internet' was, but Draco had sworn that it would be much easier to access the Muggle news using it, than going to the library and paging through copies of old newspapers, so they had arranged to meet up this afternoon.

Draco lived in a messy bachelor's flat, with clothes flung about all over. He got them both a beer from the fridge, and turned on a radio, and then the computer. Remus looked round in befuddlement – the room was filled with Muggle stuff. "Don't you have a problem with the electricity, Drake?"

"Nah. I don't use any magic in this room, so there's no interference. Plus, no Floo network. So, have you used the Internet before, Remus?"

Remus shook his head. "What does it do?"

"Well," said Draco, "It's like a big library of information that you can get at any time, all in that machine. It's got loads of news, but I don't usually follow that. Still, I know where to find it."

It took a while, but Remus finally figured out how to operate the computer and the web browser. He was quite astounded at the Internet, saying to Draco, "It's a miracle. It's like magic. How on earth does it work?"

Draco tapped the side of his nose. "Muggle secrets. Actually, this PC is really slow, but it's the best I could get. On most computers, the pages load up faster than you can blink."

Several hours later, Remus and Draco were both horrified. They had thought that they had problems, but the Muggles had them a thousand-fold over. Apparently there was a constant terrorist threat against Britain and many other countries, and the bomb alert that Remus had experienced was part of a much larger trend. In addition to these home-grown problems, people had been going missing, or very occasionally being mauled by animals on full moons for well over six months now. The attacks had touched most parts of the country, and were growing increasingly numerous. Yesterday, one reporter had made the link with the full moon, but from paging through her article record, it was clear that she was a couple of slices of bread short of a sandwich.

When Remus had expressed surprise that no-one had noticed before, Draco had observed that Muggles did not really look at the sky at night, and so most would have no idea about the status of the moon. He observed drily, "Hell, I know werewolves exist, and I hadn't linked up all of these attacks. Or even noticed them as a trend." He paused, and then asked, "So what's the deal, Remus? I know that there's a bit of an anti-werewolf campaign going on in the wizarding world at the moment, but I don't really keep up with the details.

"I mean, you're at Tonks' place because you got chucked out of your old one?" At Remus' reluctant nod he continued. "And now you've had a haircut and a splash of make-up for some kind of cloak-and-dagger operation, I'd guess. And that must mean that Tonks doesn't trust her fellow Aurors." He paused and looked upwards thoughtfully. "On second thoughts, that looks dangerous; do I really want to know?"

Remus rubbed his chin thoughtfully, but then decided that he just did not know enough about this new Draco. He would not hve trusted the old Draco as far as he could throw him. It was also clear that neither Tonks nor Cal had said anything to him.

Draco spoke again. "On the other hand, if you're working undercover, you'll be needing some assistance. Perhaps I'll have a word with Tonks." He grinned cheekily. "I know who the boss is in your relationship!"

Remus glared at Draco, and opened his mouth, but could not find a witty rejoinder. He settled for saying sniffily, "We don't have a relationship." Draco patted him on the shoulder and laughed.


	20. Walking on Eggshells

Remus and Draco arrived back at 54 Mulligan Street just in time for dinner. When Remus walked into the kitchen, Tonks was facing in the other direction, still wearing her black Auror robes, with her dark brown hair coiled up into tight twist. Draco glanced over at Remus and said loudly, "Wotcher, Tonks, Cal. Look what the cat dragged in."

Remus sighed and pretended to cuff Draco's head. When Tonks turned round, she look surprised for a second and then started to laugh. "Cal wouldn't tell me what he did!" Before Remus had time to react, she continued, "You look fantastic. Years younger."

Remus sniffed disdainfully and pulled a chair out, trying to recover his dignity. "So, _Mommy_, did you have a good day at work?" He put on his best American accent.

Cal's lip twitched, and he said, also aiming for an American accent, "Yeah, darling. You stay out so late, you work so hard. I think you could at least tell the kids a story." He gestured broadly towards Draco and Remus. Before anyone could continue, Draco started to laugh hysterically.

He stopped shortly after, when Tonks reached for her wand and muttered a quick, "_Silencio_." She glared at him. "I know this is all your fault, blondie. You've been corrupting all of the men in my life." She raised her left hand to her forehead and sighed like a swooning lady. "They used to tell funny jokes."

The dinner-table conversation eventually turned to more serious matters, surprisingly brought up by Draco. He presented a concise summary of the information that he and Remus had collected from the Internet, and then leaned forward. "What's going on, Tonks? And what do the Muggles have to do with it? Does this have anything to do with Hermione's visit here yesterday?"

Tonks glanced over at Remus, obviously trying to gauge how much Remus had told him. "I'm sorry Drake. I can't really say too much at the moment, other than that something's up, apparently with the Muggles as well as in the wizarding world. And yes, we asked Hermione for her opinion on a couple of points. In fact, she suggested looking in the Muggle papers. I guess she doesn't stay in touch with the Muggle world, or she would have noticed all the stuff you described." She paused, and Remus had the impression that she was weighing Draco in her mind. "Why so interested, Drake?"

Draco looked down, and Remus suspected that he was busy trying to hide his interest. Finally, Draco said quietly, "The gods know that I don't give a fig about the Ministry, or the wizarding world for that matter. But I do care about my boy Cal over there. If you get into trouble, what'll happen to him? And me. Trouble by association."

Tonks looked over at Cal and sighed. "You're right. I guess this next question goes to both of you then. You both know that we're investigating something, and that I'm not confident that we can rely on the Ministry. In fact, I'm half way to suspecting a plot inside the Ministry.

"I'm not willing to let the matter drop at this point, so I guess you two are either in, or you're out. Cal, I understand completely if you want me to find an alternative supervisor for you. Drake, I'm sure you can find some other people to annoy."

Cal put down his knife and fork and looked at Tonks for a long moment, before saying quietly, "I'm in, cousin." He then looked down at his plate quietly, and Remus saw that Tonks' face lightened with sudden relief.

Draco grinned. "I'll keep an eye on the Muggle news for you. Perhaps I can try to persuade some Muggles that the full moon attacks are all linked."

Tonks nodded, but Remus turned and said, "Why? Why do you care, Draco?"

Tonks shifted as if to say something, but Draco lifted his hand to say that he would answer. "Who knows, Remus? Because."

Cal and Draco left shortly after dinner to go to work, leaving Remus and Tonks in the kitchen, finishing off the bottle of the wine they had all shared. Remus felt a pleasant fuzz in his brain, and said, "So can we trust Draco?"

Tonks laughed ruefully. "Who knows? I know that he's not going to run to the Ministry and tel them about all our wrongdoing. Beyond that, we'll see. I want to give him the benefit of the doubt. So, how was your morning?"

Remus stood up to do the washing up and gave an abbreviated account of his morning at the Parkinson Manor. Tonks expressed astonishment that they were employing Muggles as well, and conceded that she could not see anything immediately suspicious, other than a certain haste in employing layabout indigents like John Lupin.

Remus set the last cup on the rack to dry and turned round, leaning against the work surface. "I take offence at that, Miss Tonks. I did buy you something on the way back, but with that attitude..."

Tonks was leaning against a cupboard, and she stuck her tongue out him playfully. "Cal really did chop your hair off, didn't he?"

Remus shrugged self-consciously. "Good job too. Without the Muggle make-up I would have been a goner when Parkinson lifted the glamours."

Tonks smiled cheekily. "Make-up! You vain man, you. Smoothing over all of your scars and age-lines." She walked over and ran a finger down his cheek, wiping off some of the foundation. She looked at her incriminating finger and then at Remus, arching her eyebrows.

Remus tried manfully to tear his gaze from her lips towards her eyes. Time seemed to come to a stand-still. He said, drily, "A man's gotta do what a man's gotta do."

Tonks laughed giddily and then leaned in and pressed her lips against his. Remus hesitated for a moment, and then wrapped his arms around her and pulled her closer, kissing her back. He felt her laughing beneath his lips and allowed her to pull him away from the sideboard to wrap her arms around him in return. They stayed entwined for several long minutes, and then Tonks hugged Remus tightly and rested her cheek on his shoulder. He closed his eyes and sighed with pleasure. His hand wandered to her hair and stroked the dark brown strands. He located the chopstick holding the twist up, and quickly pulled it out.

Tonks lifted up her head and arched her eyebrows. "What do you think you're doing, buster?"

He drank in her heart-shaped face and smiled lazily before sticking his tongue out at her. "What, I'm not allowed?" She gave an exaggerated _hmmph_, but eagerly moved forward to kiss him again.

A little while later, Tonks said playfully, "So what about this present, then?"

Remus grinned bashfully. "Don't get your hopes up. Nothing too serious."

Tonks sniffed. "Well, I shall retire to the living room. You can follow with the tea."

Remus made a loose salute. "Yes, sir." As she turned to leave, he grabbed her arm and pulled her in for another kiss, before turning to busy himself with boiling the water.

Once she had left the room, he located the shrunken egg and returned it to full size. He unwrapped it quickly and noted the incantation necessary to prime the illusion.

Once the tea was ready he levitated it in front of him, and held the egg behind his back to hide it. In the living room, Tonks was sitting on the sofa. She had removed her work robes, and Remus noted that she was wearing a rather tasteful blue blouse with a pair of black trousers. She grabbed her cup of tea out of the air and placed it on the ground.

Remus stayed standing, and said, "I know that you've been working hard on your new project at the Ministry, the dragon egg smuggling thing. Well, I stumbled across something that I thought you might find relevant."

Swiftly he pulled the egg forward and threw it to Tonks, muttering the command word. Surprise flashed across her face and she automatically reached forward to grab it in two hands. Remus had had a picture in his mind of her catching it, only for a mini Chinese Fireball to burst forth, breathing fire.

Nothing happened. A few seconds later, Tonks looked up. "Erm, Remus, I appreciate the thought, but, um, you do know that dragon eggs are illegal goods?"

Remus shifted and said, "Touch it again." Tonks did so obligingly, but nothing happened. Remus said the command word again, but still nothing happened. Finally he walked forward to touch it, but the egg remained inert. He shrugged sheepishly. "It's supposed to be fitted with an illusion of a dragon that jumps out at whoever touches it. I picked it up at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes."

Tonks started to laugh. "You sure know the way to a girl's heart, Remus."

He coughed, a little embarrassed, and picked the egg up, looking all round it for any sign as to why it had malfunctioned. He passed it back and asked to Tonks to hold it while he tried a basic detection spell. The result showed that,whilst the egg was clearly magical, there were no actual spells laid on it. Tonks balaned the egg on her knee and fished her wand out and cast an identification spell. A smoky cloud containing the words "_Chinese Fireball dragon egg_" drifted out of her wand.

"Blimey," said Tonks. "I think you really have bought me a dragon's egg, Remus."

Remus grinned weakly. "Yeah, five Galleons at Weasley's Wizarding Wheezes. A real surprise."

Tonks frowned. "I wonder if this has any link to the stuff I'm investigating. Who sold it to you?"

"Some woman. A blonde girl, very impolite. Nobody else was in the shop."

"That must be Henrietta Valduc. I think she works there part-time. She's a right nasty piece of work; don't know why the Weasleys hired her. She's got a bit of rep for shady dealing on Knockturn Alley, although we've never managed to directly pin her with anything criminal." Tonks brushed her hair behind her ears, and her voice adopted a more professional tone. "This might be the break we've been looking for. I bet she's taken the job to act as a front for the distribution of the dragon eggs. If the stock is checked, it will be the fake eggs, and she'll have hidden her stock of real eggs for her real customers. The shop manager would never know." She smiled at Remus. "You must have looked very dodgy, mate."

He splayed his hands wide helplessly. Tonks stared at the egg, and then stood up slowly. "I'm sorry, Remus, I'm going to have to take this egg somewhere safe. Fireball eggs need to be kept warm, and I don't want to damage the baby dragon. And then, I'll need to get a headstart on checking out Valduc. It won't be long before she realises that she made a mistake with the stock, so me and my colleagues will want to move first thing."

She holstered the egg under one arm, and then bit her lip. Remus watched as she walked towards him and gave him a peck on the lips. "Hold that thought for another day, buster. I'm sorry. Duty calls."

With that, she Apparated away. A delayed flush of adrenaline washed through Remus' system, chasing out the fuzz. He sighed and made his way into the kitchen, deciding that he wanted something a bit stronger than tea. With a glass of Firewhiskey safely in hand, he collapsed into the sofa, muttering, "Women!"


	21. Healing The Wounded

The next morning, Remus stood in a desolate field in the middle of Yorkshire, magically moving earth around. That task was occupying only a small part of his thoughts. They were chiefly devoted to berating himself for losing control the previous evening. However he might feel about Tonks, he was still too old, too poor and too dangerous. Although, apparently Tonks was quite partial to a bit of danger. He squelched that thought in its tracks and forced himself to remember that it just _would not_ work out. Needless to say, it was quite difficult to persuade himself.

He was almost relieved when a crash ripped him out of his introspection. The bang had come from another field behind a line of trees, where the Muggle part of the Parkinson operation was busy laying bricks on a previously excavated piece of land. Remus had showed up early and been given a tour of the building sites. The wizarding supervisor had also asked him to demonstrate his healing skills. He had been suitably impressed, and given 'John Lupin' the responsibility for checking out accidents, on both the Muggle and magical parts of the site. Apparently the company did its best to take good care of the Muggle workers.

The line of trees represented the border of a Notice-Me-Not Charm, and on stepping through, Remus saw a much busier construction site. He did not yet understand why the Parkinsons were using Muggle labour for the actual building work. The site of the accident was clear: one man was on the floor in the mud, surrounded by several colleagues. Remus pushed his way through to the front row, shouting, "John Lupin, paramedic." His boss had been quite impressed with his healing skills, and had tasked him to act as 'emergency medical personnel' on both sides of the tree line.

People moved away rapidly, and he quickly examined the scene. The Muggle had been on some scaffolding, and had obviously slipped and fallen several metres. His wand was concealed inside a plastic box that had been decorated with some Muggle symbols that Remus did not quite understand. He surreptitiously flourished it and cast a silent, invisible, Examination Spell. The Muggle had severe bruising on the back, and a long cut up the side of his left leg, but nothing too serious. Remus silently healed the cut, leaving only a small part open to explain the presence of blood, and soothed the bruises. After a few seconds pretending to do a more physical examination, Remus said, "You'll be alright, mate. No major harm done." He stood up and helped lift the man up. "You just take it easy for a couple of hours – your back will be a bit sore. You fall off that platform?"

The man nodded, and said gruffly, "My own stupid fault. I spilled a bit of oil and didn't clean it in time. Lucky it's nothing more serious. Cheers Lupin."

Remus' boss came over as the crowd drifted away. "Excellent work, John, excellent. I knew you'd make a good choice for our 'paramedic'." He pronounced the Muggle word slowly, checking that he was saying it correctly. "We want to make sure that our Muggle colleagues are treated very well, and come to no harm during the construction. This company has an extremely good safety record, you know. No major injuries ever!"

Remus nodded, and the boss spotted his fatigue. "It takes it out of a body, though, all that silent stuff. Come on, let's get you a cup of tea."

The working day was long, but nothing else of import happened. Remus tried to scope out some information on the building plans, but his fellow workers all seemed to be in the dark and the bosses did not stop to chat overlong with underlings. Everyone clocked off at five in the afternoon, and when some of the wizards on-site invited him to join them for a drink, he quickly accepted.

They went into the _Hengist's Cup_ and commandeered a table in one of the corners. Remus bought the first round, as the newbie. He braced together the four pint glasses and carried them over to the table, handing them round. One of his new friends, a certain Alfred Wallace, had picked up a copy of the _Prophet_ somewhere, and had laid it out on the table. The main story was of great interest. Apparently the Ministry had announced today that, due to a series of Muggle sightings and concomitant problems for the Ministry's Obliviator squads, a Broom Control Plan was now in operation. The Ministry was requesting that all people undertaking a journey greater than half a mile file a flight plan with the newly created Department of Broom Affairs. The flight plan could be filed, via owl, seconds before take-off, and participation would be strictly voluntary. Remus shook his head; another reason to Apparate everywhere.

His co-workers all thought that it sounded like an eminently reasonable idea; nobody wanted Muggles to be exposed to too much Obliviation. The long-term effects had yet to be fully evaluated.

The others all bought their rounds in due course, and by the time they moved to leave, it was nine o'clock. Remus had learned precious little, other than that his colleagues did not eat regular dinners.

After losing sight of the others, he Apparated to Diagon Alley and decided to use the twenty minute walk back to 54 Mulligan Street to clear his head. No-one was home, so Remus took a few seconds to clean up and get rid of his make-up. Fully restored to old-age, he contemplated heading out to the _Green Dragon_, but then decided that he did not have the energy. Or perhaps he was avoiding seeing Tonks. Or perhaps he was just too tired. He decided that the latter was definitely the case, and headed off to bed.

The next morning, he saw no sign of Tonks before he left for work, although he did not know if that meant she was already at work, or still in bed. He did not see her that evening either, but there was a note addressed to Rems on the kitchen table saying that she had to go 'undercover' for a couple of days on assignment.

By Saturday morning, she had still not returned. Hermione had Apparated by at about eleven-thirty, to say that the analysis of the potion would take a bit longer than expected, but that she should have more details by the following Wednesday or Thursday. Remus had thought that she looked a bit stressed, and so had suggested going to the _Green Dragon_ to grab a bite to eat. When Hermione had hesitated, Remus had said desperately that he thought he needed a second opinion on his observations of the Parkinson Manor. She had relented and come along.

Draco was at the bar when they arrived. Remus made eye contact with him, and then watched as he leaned against the bar, smirking. As they arrived to order, Draco said,"What can I get you lovely ladies?" He then proceeded to wink saucily, although Remus was not quite sure if the wink was directed at him or at Hermione.

Hermione sniffed. "Slumming, are you, Draco?" It slowly occurred to Remus that it might have been a good idea to warn her that Draco worked here.

Draco looked briefly alarmed at the word 'Draco', but quickly resumed his nonchalant pose. "Well, I wouldn't call it that, Granger. I think all of the people here are perfectly respectable. Perhaps your head's been turned by the high society you keep?"

Hermione appeared to be stunned by this rejoinder and remained silent. Remus stepped in, "Now, Drake, that wasn't at all what Hermione meant, and you know it. Now, can we have two pints and two menus."

Draco smirked and turned to pull the pints, while Remus led Hermione to a table. He nipped back and picked up the two pints and shot a warning glance at Draco, but it slid over him like water off a duck's back. When he say down, Hermione launched into a rant. "I cannot believe the cheek of him. I mean, Draco Malfoy, saying _that_ to _me_. As if he gives a damn about anybody here."

Remus said calmly, "Don't be too hasty, Hermione. He's not the boy he was. You should give him the benefit of the doubt."

Hermione snorted. "He's still the same as ever. Just reduced to working in a Muggle bar. That's irony for you. I bet it eats him alive every day, that he has to serve Muggles."

Remus thought that she was now sporting a very ugly sneer, but decided to let the matter drop. Instead, he started to tell her about his experiences at the Parkinson Manor, to see if she could make anything of them. Unfortunately, the bad guys weren't doing anything overtly villainous. In fact, they seemed to be model employers.

After this font of conversation had dried up, Remus felt increasingly uncomfortable, and suddenly saw his younger self, letting Sirius and James get away with whatever they liked. On an impulse, he said, "Look, Hermione, don't hold his family against Drake. I honestly think he's changed."

Hermione glanced over at the bar, and gave a small shrug. "I ... I guess so."

Remus looked at her intently; he had the distinct impression that she wanted to talk about something. Before he could ask, she stepped in. "Are you alright, Remus? You seem really, I don't now, disconnected. Is it all the anti stuff in the papers? Do you want to talk about it?"

When Remus did not respond, Hermione lowered her voice even further. "Is it Tonks? Is she okay?"

Remus could feel his cheeks heating, and so he looked away. "I haven't seen her for a couple of days, actually. Work, that sort of thing."

When Hermione next spoke, her voice was uncharacteristically uncertain. "Has something happened between you two?"

Remus whipped his head round to look her straight in the eyes, about to issue a denial, but found that he could not. Hermione's brown eyes seemed to be full of warmth and friendship. When he had not said anything for a few moments, Hermione reached over and patted his shoulder. "I'm sure it will work out for the best. Right, I'd best be off. I'll contact you later in the week." She stood up and headed out. She paused at the bar, and said loudly, "Drake. I've been told you're a reformed character. Is it true?"

Draco turned from what he was doing, and opened his arms wide. Before he could reply, one of the regulars at the bar piped up. "Ol' Drake? Reformed? Sooner teach an old dog new tricks. You be careful, missy, that boy's trouble."

Draco turned and said, "Hey! Don't go blackening my name without permission." Hermione laughed and walked out. Remus just shook his head in puzzlement, before getting up in turn to make his way back to 54 Mulligan Street. He walked in to find Tonks in the living room, obviously having just Flooed in.


	22. Illgill Head

Remus stopped in the doorway for a moment, watching Tonks brush off her robe. She looked up at him, and summoned up a weary smile for him. Now that she was actually here, in front of him, he was at a loss as to what to do. She said, "Wotcher, Remus. How are you?"

Her voice broke the spell and he stepped fully into the room. He decided to start with a neutral topic. "Hi. I'm glad to see that you're back okay. Can you say anything about your assignment, or is it all under wraps?"

She smiled ruefully. "Well, I can't give you any details just yet, although it is related to this dragon egg smuggling business. Your present came in really handy." Remus noted that she had her smart work hairstyle in place, with a few wisps curling down, framing her face.

He nodded at her reply. "Just like when we used to hang round with the old crowd, operational security and all that."

"Yeah." Her face lit up as if she had just been struck by a funny idea. "It must be you. I bump into you and suddenly my life is full of bizarre plots and secret missions."

Remus did not really care for the observation, and could not think of anything to say for a moment. Instead, he looked at her again. Was her face less heart-shaped than usual? She opened her mouth to say something, and Remus quickly decided to bite the bullet. "I've been thinking about the other night, and ..."

Before he could complete his sentence, Tonks interrupted. "Me too. Remus, I like you, you like me. We both know these things, but we're both older than we were." Even though Remus had been just about to say that the whole thing was a bad idea, he felt a sinking disappointment at her 'but'.

Tonks continued. "I'm not going to chase you this time. For once, Remus, you're going to have to decide what you want. What happened the other night wasn't some reaction to all the clandestine stuff going on. I'm here now, and maybe tomorrow I won't be; maybe you won't be. This time it's up to you. And now, I'm off to Quidditch."

"But you must be exhausted." It was all he could think to say, and all he got in response was a little smile. Then, she was out of the living room.

He heard her moving about upstairs, and then she clattered down the stairs, before shouting, "Bye." The door slammed shut behind her.

Remus sat down slowly in the armchair, a bit perturbed by her ultimatum. Rationally, he knew that it was perfectly reasonable. That did not stop him feeling upset. He sprang to his feet, suddenly filled with a terrible nervous energy. After pacing round the house fruitlessly, he decided to go for a walk. Picking up his jacket, he Apparated to a deserted house in the Lake District. On arrival, he staggered forward a step, hit by a blast of fatigue. The long-distance Apparations to Yorkshire were obviously taking their toll.

He put his jacket on and stepped outside. The sky above was grey and overcast; quite normal for the region. A nearby track led up towards Illgill Head, a hill covered in grass. It was one of the easiers ascents in the area, but the view from the high ridge was good nonetheless. Remus had been here several times before.

Just as the track started to climb, a light drizzle started, but Remus stoutly ignored it. He rather thought it suited his mood in any case. As he walked, he went over all his arguments as to why starting something again with Tonks was a bad idea. They had broken up before because of his refusal to consider having children, or even adopting, and his objections to that still held.

He reached the top, and paused to catch his breath. As he straightened, agap in the cloud cover opened, just below the sun. Shafts of bright light illuminated the hillside, even as the rain continued to fall. Remus felt a shiver run along his arms and up his spine at the beauty of the moment, and then he knew what he had to do. The sunlit moment was fleeting, and the clouds soon covered up the small patch. Remus started to make his way down via a different route, this time with a cheerful smile despite the weather. He could still remember the shiver from that small moment of sunlight.

His smile diminished when he slipped in the mud on one of the steeper parts of the descent. He fell onto his bottom and careened downhill for a few metres. He made it back onto his feet and brushed ineffectually at the mud clinging to the back of his trousers, and then laughed at the absurdity of it all.

Once he had reached the deserted house, he Apparated to the hallway of 54 Mulligan Street; after all, it would not do to track mud all over the carpet. As he was removing his shoes, he heard someone coming down the stairs. He looked up to see Tonks, obviously just out of the shower. Her hair was short, wet, and unbrushed, with tufts sticking out in all directions. She looked him up and down and started to laugh. "Where have you been?"

He grinned back. "Oh, I went for a short walk."

"Where to? You didn't get that much mud on you in London."

"I popped over to the Lake District, and, er, I slipped. It was raining." He was fumbling for an excuse.

"So I see," said Tonks drily. "You'd better get changed and dry up, or you'll catch a cold."

"Yes, I should. I've got something to say first, though." Tonks looked rather wary at that. Remus shrugged, steeling himself, and then lunged forward, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her into a kiss. After a moment's surprise, she responded.

When her roaming hands encountered the slippery mud covering him she broke away. "Remus! I just took a shower." She did not manage to inject any venom into her voice at all, and he knew that she did not mind one bit.

He rubbed his own hands on his trousers so that they were also covered in mud, and then cupped her face with them. It was definitely heart-shaped. He murmured, "Oh dear, silly me," before kissing her again.

Some time later, he said, "I made up my mind. I thought that times would change, and that my situation would change. This might not be the best time. There might never be a best time. But I can hardly do worse than most of the people out there." It was not his most eloquent speech, but he hoped that she understood what he was trying to say.

Apparently she did. "That's what I tried to tell you all those years ago, Remus."

"Well, apparently my aged brain processes things very slowly." He hesitated. "I don't know if it will work out; we're both different now. But I'll do my best."

They were still in the hallway when Cal arrived home. They had sprung apart at the sound of a key in the door, but the splotches of mud were rather incriminating. Cal was speechless for a few seconds, but then started to laugh. His whole face lightened, and Remus was strongly reminded of his resemblance to Sirius. Tonks looked at the floor, blushing in embarrassment. It was obviously up to Remus to salvage some dignity from the situation. "Good day, Calvin? I went for a walk in the Lake District, and fell over."

Cal arched an eyebrow. "Indeed? And I suppose my cousin was just helping you get clean?"

Remus could see that Tonks was also about to start laughing. She said, trying to keep a straight face, "Oh no. We were comparing. I had a close encounter with a lot of mud on the Quidditch pitch."

Cal nodded and then splayed his hand against his cheek, spreading his fingers, mimicking the pattern on Tonks' cheek. Remus could feel a chuckle developing. Cal said, "I see. Well, Drake wants to go shoot some pool. I was going to invite you, but it's a high-class joint. They don't really go for mud-covered savages."

"Cheeky varmint," sputtered Tonks. Cal smirked and then slipped past them to dash upstairs.

Not long after, he was ready to leave. He gave Tonks a quick rundown on his itinerary, and then added quietly, "You haven't forgotten about tomorrow, have you?" Remus ony just caught this sentence, and did not think that he had been supposed to hear it. As he walked out the door, Cal said loudly, "You two can get back to cleaning each other up now."

After the door had shut, Tonks shrugged, "Sorry about him, Remus."

Remus stepped forward. "Oh, I don't know, seems like a perfectly reasonable suggestion to me."

The next morning, the couple were enjoying a late brunch alone in the kitchen. To Remus' relief, Cal was elsewhere. Remus had decided to cook up a full English breakfast, with bacon, sausages, eggs, black pudding; the works. After some inconsequential chatter, Tonks said, "Have you got any plans for the day?"

Remus stretched lazily, and said suggestively, "No. Any ideas?"

Tonks blushed lightly. "Actually, I have some visitors coming round this afternoon, about three. I'm sorry I didn't mention it before."

Remus immediately remembered Cal's quiet question the previous evening. "Who's that then?"

Tonks took a moment before replying. "Some Muggle family friends. I see them about twice a year or so. I'll have to go round the house to check that theres nothing obviously magical lying around. Wouldn't do for an Auror to get charged under the International Statute!"

Remus could not remember any such friends, and he had the distinct impression that Tonks was omitting some important fact. Still, she would tell him in the fullness of time, of that he was sure. "Do you want me to stick around? Or be elsewhere for a couple of hours?"

She said, straight away, "It's up to you, although if you want to, you'll have to dress a bit more Muggle." Although her face was placid, and he had no indications that she was lying, Remus had the distinct impression that she would be more comfortable if he were absent.

"Nah, I think I'll go outside and enjoy the sunshine. Cal was badgering me the other day to come with him to go to the 'cinema' this afternoon, now that I come to think of it. I've never been before."

Tonks smiled, "Has he now?"

They finished their breakfast, and then lazed about a bit more until Cal appeared at about one o'clock. With his assistance, they tidied up the house and tried to spot any egregious wizarding items. Cal informed Remus soberly that the film he was thinking of going to see would be starting at three-thirty, and that they should probably leave at about quarter-to-three, as Drake was also coming along. Remus groaned at the thought, as he as sure that Cal would have not kept silent about his discovery the previous evening.

Just before they left, Tonks morphed. "With Muggles, I always have to look the same." She looked completely different to her usual self. Her new form was very tall, with a long face, non-descript looks and shoulder-length blonde hair. Remus blinked uncertainly, and Tonks turned to Cal, "Can you see any errors?"

Cal checked her over carefully. "No, I think you're good."

She nodded, and then said, "I'm sure Cal can give you the lowdown on my visitors, Remus."

They arrived just in time for the start of the adverts, mainly due to Draco having spent twenty minutes faffing around in his apartment, 'getting ready'. The film itself was very dramatic, and laden with special effects. Remus was very impressed with the ingenuity of the Muggles, and said so afterwards.

They decided to decamp to a café for post-film discussion, and Draco then managed to get in his obligatory teasing, for Cal had, indeed, told him that he had caught Remus and Tonks in the hallway. Remus suffered through it with a small smile; Draco was actually quite funny occasionally.

Eventually, Remus decided to ask about Tonks' friends. Cal said slowly, "I thought you'd never ask."

Remus shrugged. "I don't want to push. If it's none of my business, it's none of my business."

Cal then launched into a story, interspersed with the ocasional comment from Draco. Apparently, about five years ago, Tonks had decided to take up the Muggle sport basketball. Cal was not quite clear on the why. He suspected that it had been related to some sort of Auror business originally, but in any case, Tonks had continued to go to the weekly practices, with matches on Sundays. Although Cal did not claim to be an expert, he had thought that she had 'played quite well'.

Over the next couple of years, she had been courted by one of the players on the men's team, and they had eventually started going out, although it had taken Tonks forever to realise his interest. Draco had added, "She was amazed! She thought she looked like a horse in the morph she was wearing!"

Anyway, they had been going out for one or two years, when he proposed to her, and Tonks had accepted immediately. At this point, Remus needed to clarify something. "She accepted a proposal from a Muggle? Not a Muggleborn, but a Muggle? No magic at all?"

When Cal nodded, Remus said, "But that's unheard of. Nobody ever does that. It breaks the ISS for one thing, doesn't it?"

Cal shrugged. "I don't know. I imagine you can get a dispensation."

"Had she told him she was a witch?"

"Of course not."

"When did she tell him?"

Cal pulled on his left ear uncomfortably. "I don't think she ever did."

"So she was planning to live as a Muggle? But that's unbelievable. It's ..." Remus bit off the words he was about to say, horrified at them himself.

Draco looked vaguely sympathetic. "I know that nobody marries Muggles, but it must happen occasionally. If I'm not wrong, you were about to say it would be like crippling yourself, or, worse, crippling your children."

Remus angrily denied that that was what he had been about to say, although it was suspiciously close to what had been in his thoughts. Still, now that he knew he had this instinctive reaction, he could act to counter it.

Draco leaned forward, "Whatever. Most wizards think that way, that living like a Muggle would be a terrible hardship. It's not, really. In fact, it's pretty good in a lot of ways. Plus, Danny was really nice. He was friendly, patient, solid as a rock."

"I'm sure he was. I'm not the one with a history of anti-Muggle prejudice," Remus responded hotly.

Draco shrugged. "Whatever. I admit, it's a shock the first time you hear about it. Cal here did some research, and he could only find seventeen registered wizard-true Muggle marriages in the records, so I think it's safe to say that most wizards feel the same way. Anyway, Cal hasn't got to the key part of the story yet."

Ca quickly took up the conversation again. About a two and a half years ago, not long after his proposal, Danny had been run over by a car and been killed. Remus felt a chill then, and bitterly regretted his earlier words. He had been an only child, and his parents kept in touch with Tonks, hence the visit.

Remus nodded numbly at the end of the story. "Oh. That's a lot to take in."

"Anyway," said Cal, "it's a way back in the past now, but Tonks doesn't really like to talk about it too much. Not to mention that some of her 'friends' thought it a great relief that she was avoiding such a _terrible_ mistake."


	23. The Parkinson Manor Revisited

Monday morning dawned bright and early, and Remus did likewise. Tonks had been her usual chirpy self when the boys had returned on Sunday night, but later on, she had clung to him tightly. When Remus had obliquely indicated that Cal had filled him in, Tonks had equally obliquely indicated that she did not really want to discuss the matter at the moment. And then she had given him a great big hug.

Now, she was looking at him fondly,and leaning forward to give him a kiss on the cheek. "I'll see you this evening, alright? Don't get into any trouble at that Parkinson place, you hear me?"

Remus nodded and stuck his tongue out cheekily as she backed away. With a sniff, Tonks left for work. Remus grinned and then tucked into his breakfast, opening up the latest copy of the _Daily Prophet_. Both he and Tonks had ignored the front page, which had been trumpeting the latest crimes of the Cunning Changeling, who had apparently decided that murder was to his liking, and was implicated in a murder in Suffolk on Friday, and two murders on the Continent.

The next two pages were filled with also filled with grim news, and Remus' fine mood quickly evaporated. The Minister of Magic had decided that emergency measures were necessary to stem the wave of Metamorphamagus related crimes, and had decreed that all Metamorphmagi would be required to register and wear a small badge at all times that would warn the public if the wearer was morphing. The motion had to pass through the appropriate scrutiny, but it seemed likely to pass by tomorrow. Apparently, several dedicated Ministry workers had spent the whole weekend developing the badge.

Remus sighed, and flipped through the rest of the paper. The only bright spot was in the letters column, where a certain Mr. R. Appleby had written in.

_Dear Sir,_

_I would like to suggest that, as the Ministry is having so many problems resolving the multitudinous problems besetting Wizarding Britain, perhaps the Minister should contemplate extraordinary steps. If the Minister were to call upon Harry Potter to follow the example of that noble Roman Cincinnatus, I am sure that, like that esteemed gentleman, he would feel obliged to accept. I have no doubt that Harry Potter would be able to save the wizarding world for the third time, unlike the current Administration. _

_Yours faithfully,_

_Mr. Robert Appleby_

_Editor's Note: Cincinnatus was a retired hero called up by the Roman Wizarding Senate to act as the head of state during one of the many Roman wars._

Remus was almost as surprised by the Editor's Note as by the letter, but it brought a much needed smile to his lips. That was an excellent idea, although he knew that Harry would hardly appreciate it. He had always claimed to hate politics, and had only accepted his position on the Wizengamot with great reluctance, claiming that he was far too young and inexperienced. Of course, everyone disagreed with him; Remus thought that he had far too much experience.

On that happy thought, he folded away the newspaper and stacked away his plate. An owl tapped its beak on the kitchen window, and he quickly opened it up. The owl glided round the room, elegantly dropping an envelope on the table before swooping back out. Remus shrugged and then picked up the envelope. It was a high quality envelope, bearing the Ministry seal and addressed to Tonks. Frowning, he put it down on the table, and left.

The work was boring enough; the foundations were nearly finished now. The company was welcoming, though, and Remus took the opportunity to find out their views on the latest news. Perhaps unsurprisingly, all those who spoke up were in agreement with the proposed Metamorphmagi tags. After all, they did not need to morph in daily life, and it could only act to protect people against unscrupulous Metamorphmagi. After all, who knew how many there were out there? As for the letter about Harry Potter, they all thought that it was a great idea.

Remus came home that evening tired and frustrated. He really needed to make some progress on working out what the Parkinsons were up to. He suspected that Tonks would have already infiltrated the house several times and found out all the answers.

Tonks was back relatively early, and Remus could tell straight away that she was not happy. She was muttering various things that sounded rather impolite as she stalked into the kitchen. Remus walked over and hugged her. "Nice day at work?"

"Hah! I wish." She leaned into him briefly and then pulled away to pick up the letter, still sitting on the table. She opened it and read the contents briefly, pursing her lips. She then folded it up carefully, although her hands were twitching, and Remus could sense a slow-burning fury.

"From the Ministry?"

Tonks turned away and busied herself making a cup of tea, not looking at him. "Yeah. I suppose you've heard about this cockeyed scheme."

"You don't have to wear it."

"Maybe. Maybe not. I still have to register though. I mean, it's not as if I can keep my 'condition' secret. Everyone knows that I'm a Metamorphmagus."

"Pick another face when you go outside."

Tonks turned round to look at him. "That's hardly an ideal solution, Remus. In any case, if I want to go to work, I'll have to wear it. Can't have Aurors breaking the law, now can we?"

Remus decided that action was called for, and stepped over to kiss her. "I don't care that you're a Metamorph," he murmured.

"Thanks. I needed to hear that," Tonks said and smiled lopsidedly. "I suppose this is all old hat for you, though."

"You never get used to it, though." He hugged her again.

When the kettle boiled, she finished making the tea, and sat down at the table, pushing a mug over to Remus. "Apparently I'll get the badge by Owl tomorrow. Compulsory from Wednesday on, until the decree is rescinded. I wonder how it works."

Remus shrugged. "It says in the paper that it should detect any morph, and give out an alarm, so that the Metamorphmagus is forced to adopt their natural form."

Tonks smiled, although she did not appear to be any more cheerful. "Well, that's hardly going to work." When Remus looked questioningly at her, she waved her hand vaguely and he decided not to press.

Instead he decided to try and cheer her up. "How about we go to the cinema this evening. You know, the Muggle thing. I remember where it was, and they have films on every day! I'll even throw in some Muggle dinner."

Tonks stared at him for a second, and then laughed. "Well, I can hardly refuse an offer like that. Just let me go and get changed."

On Tuesday, Remus had decided to step up his investigations, and carried along a clean piece of parchment. The foundations were finished and the site had to be prepped to receive the Muggle workers. Remus was conveniently tasked with checking all of the areas covered. As he set off, he whipped out the parchment and tapped it with his wand. He could not create a Marauder's Map just like that, but he could certainly make something that would create a map of the areas he visited. The bird's eye view might help.

At lunchtime, he decided to try his luck. He waited until everyone had left for lunch, and then headed towards the Manor. It was quite a way from the actual construction site, and so half an hour had passed before he was close. He had half an hour left, but he figured that he could Apparate back without too many problems. He was facing the back of the house, which had two large sets of bay windows facing onto a large, well-tended lawn. Remus hesitated, and then cast a Disillusionment Charm before crossing the lawn.

He felt rather exposed, but no alarms sounded. He moved past the windows, and sidled around the building until he spotted a door. He listened at it, but heard nothing, and so gently tried the handle. It was locked, but to his surprise, a silent _Alohomora_ opened it. He slipped inside, and found himself in a deserted kitchen. It had obviously just been in use though, and he guessed that the Parkinsons were in the middle of receiving their lunch. The next door he tried was not locked, and then Remus was inside the house proper, creeping along the corridors. He tried to remember the little that Tonks had been able to gather about the layout of the house, and then paused abruptly when he peeked round the next corner; it had paintings.

Remus chewed his lip and decided to crawl along the floor, and hope that his Disillusionment Charm held. He risked a glance at the paintings, but none appeared to notice him. At the next corner, he suddenly recognised his surroundings. He had come this way with Mr. Birtwhistle when he had gone to visit Roger Parkinson. He could either go to Birtwhistle's office, or Parkinson's. Fearing that this might be his only opportunity, he headed towards the Parkinson study, still taking all due precautions.

Soon he was at the door to the study. It had been years since he had engaged in such behaviour, but the old reflexes came back every time he felt a jolt of fear, and he had been going through all the old charms that he could remember over the last couple of days. Accordingly, he whispered, "_Senseo_." The door started to glow softly in several places, indicating where it was warded. Remus studied the spots for several seconds, trying to see how they all linked together. He could see that they were all keyed to one password. At Hogwarts, the Marauders had developed a spell to tease the password out of some of the guardians that blocked certain secret passageways. Still, it had always failed in more complicated cases, and he suspected that this would be one of those times.

Instead, he stepped past the door and tapped the wall gently with his wand, muttering, "_Transparencio._" A small patch of the wall swirled and the colour leached out of it. The wall was still there, but Remus could now see through it. Very few people thought to ward their walls for anything short of destruction, and Roger Parkinson was obviously not one of those people.

The study looked much as it had done before. The desk was covered in paper, and the walls were filled with files and books. Remus could read some of the labels, but the files all seemed to be concerned with harmless construction issues. He did not spot anything obviously out of place, but then he had not really expected to do so.

He stood there for several minutes, racking his brains for a suitable spell with which to continue his investigation. A noise, echoing down one of the corridors, brought him right back into the present moment. He would have to come up with a solution later. He glanced round quickly, and whispered, "_Finite Incantatem_." The transparent spot disappeared slowly. After checking his Disillusionment Charm, he retraced his steps. He preferred not to test any Apparation wards that might be in existence.

As he approached the stairs, he heard some voices and peeked round carefully. Roger Parkinson was just about to start up them, and his daughter was with him. Remus froze, unable to react for an instant. He recovered rapidly, deciding that he had two choices. He could run, or he could hope that his Disillusionment would hold. He would go with that one. He shuffled back and laid down, pushing himself back into the wall on the side facing away from the stairs. Hopefully, no-one would look down or kick him. One advantage was that he could listen in to their conversation.

Pansy said, "We don't have a problem at Fuchsia Remedies, but at Salmon Potions, one branch of workers are angling for a pay rise."

Roger said, "Salmon Potions? Remind me what they are making?"

"Antidotes. Some of the workers are concerned about the risks of exposure to the active ingredients. We haven't had an accident, and I don't think we will, but the union has been carrying out an inquiry, 'to assess risks themselves'."

Roger paused, obviously thinking about it. "We need to keep everybody on side, Pansy. But we can't let it go too easily, or they'll think they have us over a barrel. Be generous, but generous across the board."

"Got it, Dad."

The two reached the top of the stairs, and then turned in opposite directions. Remus held his breath, and waited until both had disappeared from sight. Then, he was on his feet and dashing down the stairs. He reached the kitchen without incident, and then waited until the door was opened by one of the staff. He slipped through cautiously and was soon outside in the fresh air. Breathing a heartfelt sigh of relief, he Apparated back to the construction site. With a small start of disbelief, he realised that there were still five minutes of the lunch hour left. It felt as if several hours had passed to him!

Remus had had long practice at looking innocent, but it went to waste as no alarm appeared to have sounded. As the afternoon wore on, he started to relax. At the afternoon tea-break, discussion was concentrated on one topic. Jim McAllister was waving around a parchment – a petition to request that Harry Potter take up the job of Minister of Magic. Remus was about to sign, and then realised that he could hardly use his real name. Instead, he asked if he could take a copy, as he knew a few people who would be interested in signing up as well. McAllister nodded and magically copied it. Now Remus could sign it elsewhere, and the signature would go whizzing off to join the secure list held by the originator. Remus did not recognise the name, Liam Reynolds.

He headed home early, still feeling a bit nervous. The house was empty, and so Remus pulled a Muggle beer out of the fridge and flopped onto the sofa. He needed to find a way to get into that office. His mind wandered, going via the werewolf dungeon in the Parkinson Manor, to Sorrel's Institution, to what he was going to do next full moon. And to what the other werewolves were going to do. If they were being poisoned and led to attack people, he could not, in good conscience, let them go without a warning.


	24. Lawyers To The Left Of Me

Tonks and Cal walked in, disturbing his reverie. Tonks was looking rather worn, and sat down heavily next to Remus. "Oooh, a beer. That's a good idea. Cal, bring us a beer, will you?"

Cal mumbled something and then brought both himself and Tonks a beer before sitting down. Remus lifted his arm and Tonks squirmed next to his side, before relaxing with a sigh. Remus wrapped his arm round her shoulder, and then winked at Cal, who was obviously not too sure where to look. He asked him how he was, and Cal slowly started to relax. With that problem out of the way, he pulled out the petition parchment. "Someone at work had this. I was planning on signing it; thought you might want to as well."

Tonks chuckled. "I've got one in my bag too!" Remus signed his with a flourish, and passed it over to Cal, who read it carefully and then put it to one side. Remus looked at Tonks, wondering if he should say something, but she shook her head minutely. Instead, she stretched, and then said, "Hermione wants me to meet her this evening, about eight o'clock. She wants me to meet some dude."

They chattered about inconsequential matters for a little while, principally Tonks' Quidditch team, who had a match the following Sunday. When Tonks moved to ask about his day, Remus said that he would talk about it when they were with Hermione. In return, he asked about Tonks' day.

It turned out that she had been rather busy. Her team had made great progress on the dragon egg smuggling affair, and although Tonks could not give any details as the operation was still ongoing, she could reveal that Henrietta Valduc had been a very important figure in the smuggling chain, which was far more widespread than they had ever imagined. She hinted, however, that the case would probably be resolved by the end of the week.

Remus had noted that something else appeared to be bothering her, possibly several other things, and so he tried to persuade her to tell him. After giving him an uneasy smile, Tonks said that at one point during the day, she had been out in the field, on stakeout, when she had felt the alarm from the wards that she had set up around the house of the person she had imitated to get into Sorrel's on the full moon.

She had been unable to leave straight away, to avoid jeopardizing her co-workers, but had Apparated over as quickly as she could, only to find that the dead body of her unwitting helper. Remus studied Tonks with great concern, and saw that she was extremely upset. He turned and lifted her chin up, pulling her into a tight embrace. "It's not your fault, Nymph."

Tonks took a long, shaky breath. "Yes, it is. I put their life in danger, and the things I said as them led directly to this. If only I could have got their earlier."

"You didn't kill them. It's _not_ your fault."

Tonks shook her head. "It is. But I can deal with it."

Remus looked at her. "With me. I'll be here." He paused, thinking through the issue. "Did you report it?"

"Of course." Tonks looked vaguely scandalized. "I made up a tip-off from a concerned passerby."

Tonks visibly pulled herself together. "That's mainly what happened to me today. I bumped into Hermione at lunchtime. Well, actually, I think she was looking for me. Oh, and I got this." She fumbled around inside her robe and pulled out an envelope. Inside was her new registration badge. It was relatively small, and if pinned to the outside of someone's robes, would not draw any attention. Remus could not think of anything to say, and Cal had apparently slipped away into the kitchen, so he just held her tight.

Dinner was served soon after, with one of Tonks' favourite dishes, _steack au poivre_ with chips. She tucked in, and Cal and Remus kept up a stream of unimportant chatter, about Quidditch, Muggle football, the cinema, whatever they could think of. They all chipped in with the cleaning up, and soon it was time for everyone to leave. Remus insisted on accompanying Tonks, even though she feebly tried to dissuade him.

They Flooed to Hermione's flat, as Remus had never been there. The Floo Powder stock was running extremely low. After dusting off the soot, they both looked around. Hermione was standing in one corner with a tall wizard, with a well-tamed mane of dark blond hair. He was wearing an expensively tailored pair of black robes, and Remus thought that he looked like a lawyer.

This proved to be the case, for this was Cato Scrimgeour, son of Rufus, former Minister of Magic, and brother of Tonks' nemesis Cicero. Remus sneaked a glance at Tonks as Hermione finished the introductions. She was looking very calm and collected, and Remus could see no traces of her earlier distress. She caught him looking, and she took his hand to squeeze it briefly. He did feel reassured, but was rather wary of her apparent calm. He knew she was cut up about this dead person, and worried that he knew next to nothing about them. Cato Scrimgeour, on the other hand, was well known. He was a hotshot wizarding rights lawyer with a reputation for taking on difficult cases. He was also known for his incorruptibility.

Cato bowed solemnly to the pair of them. "I met Hermione yesterday afternoon – we are working together on building up support for a house elf rights programme – and we started to discuss the news that was released yesterday. We were both of like mind; the proposed registration programme is unacceptable, and must be combatted. Hermione mentioned that she knew a Metamorphmagus, and I asked her to arrange a meeting." He clapped his hands once. "And now I see that Remus Lupin is also here! If you are amenable, perhaps we can discuss some ideas of mine regarding werewolf rights later?"

Remus was rather surprised, but nodded an affirmative. Tonks said, "So how may I be of assistance, Mr. Scrimgeour? I am quite prepared to admit that I am strongly against the new decre, butI must also warn you that I am not currently in a situation where I can risk losing my job, much to my regret."

Cato arched an eyebrow. "Indeed. Well, for the moment I am principally interested in gathering information on how the decree impacts your general everyday life – testimony, if you like. No need for you to refuse to wear it just at the moment. If I can compile a report, it will provide ammunition for those trying to change this, and other recent decrees.

"If I may take the liberty, I have been following recent events with great concern. The degeneration of the werewolf situation, the recent Broom Control development, and now this Metamorphmagus issue, along with several other concerns. All of these things point to a serious breakdown in the controls we have in place to control the development of legislation. I am absolutely horrified by these changes that appear to be unnoticed by the vast majority of our populace.

Tonks smiled gracefully. "I am so glad that there are still reasonable people out there like yourself, Mr. Scrimgeour. I can certainly do as you ask, and we can see how we can take things from there."

Cato beamed. "Excellent. Excellent. Now, can you put me in contact with any other Metamorphmagi."

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid I don't know any others."

"Ah well. I'm sure I'll be able to get in contact with some others. Well, I will keep you posted, Ms. Tonks." He then turned to smile at Remus. "I will take advantage of this opportunity, if I may, to ask you to provide me with similar information on the real treatment of werewolves at Sorrel's Institution. I have heard the most terrible of rumours regarding the behaviour of the wardens. All drug-addicts and ne'er-do-wells."

Remus did his best not to snort, and said, as calmly as he could manage, "It would be my pleasure, Mr. Scrimgeour. So few people are interested in the conditions that werewolves find themselves in. I do in fact have quite a lot of information, and good contacts with other werewolves. I'll send it along tomorrow."

"Very good. You do realise, of course, that werewolves are a bit less, media-friendly, shall we say, than Metamorphmagi. At least the humanity of Metamorphmagi is not in question," said Cato.

"Yes." Remus left his response deliberately tight.

"Well, this has been a most agreeable meeting, Ms. Tonks, Mr. Lupin. I look forward to having further contact with you. Good evening." He nodded to Hermione rather formally, and then Apparated out.

Remus looked at Hermione, and saw her mouth twitch. She said, "Well, his heart's in the right place, even if he can be a bit pompous at times."

Tonks spoke up. "Well, he's direct, and to the point. Always an advantage to my mind."

Hermione looked up at her with a bit of shock. "Don't worry, Tonks. We'll work it out somehow." When Tonks looked unconvinced, she continued, "I'll take that as a hint then. I am still having some trouble with the potion analysis. I know I said I'd have some news by Wednesday. Well, I can tell you about the common ingredients, but there a couple of things that I need to work out. They're quite difficult to decipher. Definitely not the normal Wolfsbane, though."

Remus started to pace, coming back to his earlier thoughts. "That makes it imperative to have somewhere to go next full moon. I'm not going to go back there if there's a risk I'm going to be kidnapped and used to attack people. And I'm damned if I'm going to let any others go through that." He looked up fiercely, as if daring them to disagree.

Fortunately, no one was inclined to disagree. They threw around some ideas, but nothing practical came up. The subject then turned to the Parkinson Manor. Remus pulled out his impromptu map, but the foundation outlines looked completely innocuous. The map had also made some headway with the inside of the Parkinson Manor, but Remus had not visited enough places to really get a grasp on it.

When he told the story, Tonks interrupted him at one point. "You just lay there, hoping that they wouldn't see you! That kind of operation is far too dangerous for you. You don't have the training."

He shrugged in the face of her wrath. "Needs must when the devil drives."

Hermione had something else to confess. With embarrassment clear all over her face, she recounted meeting Ron for coffee. Tonks raised her hands to the sky. "I'm surrounded by incompetents. That was really dumb, Hermione. What if the Parkinsons work out that we're on to them."

Remus looked at Tonks with surprise; that had been very harshly put. Hermione also looked rather surprised, and she took a step back, her eyes filling up with guilt. "I had to, though. I couldn't bear the thought of him getting mixed up in whatever it is they're up to. They must be using him somehow. I just wanted to give him a warning, for old times' sake. And then he startd saying the most horrible things about you, Remus, and werewolves."

Remus threw a hard glance at Tonks, and then stepped forward to hug Hermione. "It's okay. We understand. It's difficult when you think someone that you care about is doing stupid things."

She pulled away from him and said, "But how can he think such things of you, Remus? He knows you! He knows you're not a monster."

Remus tried not to let the hurt show. "Well, Hermione, a lot of people think that way."

"But I didn't think that someone who actually knew you could ever think like that."


	25. Tickled Pink

Remus propped his chin on his hand and looked at Tonks with a touch of surprise. She had just come downstairs for breakfast, in her Auror robes, and with her new Metamorphmagus badge pinned in place. The main problem with the picture was that her hair was short, spiky, and a shocking pink.

He chewed slowly on a bite of toast, and then said, "Your real hair colour is pink?"

Tonks sat down gracelessly. "Well, the badge isn't flashing."

"Your hair isn't really pink."

"How do you know?" she replied snappily.

"Well, it just isn't, is it? Nobody's hair is pink."

"Nonetheless, today my hair is pink."

Remus chewed on that one for a moment, and then said, "How did you break the badge?"

Tonks looked down at it. "I haven't done anything to it. It's got quite a lot of anti-tampering charms on, and it would take a lot of work to get round them."

"Is it broken?"

Tonks smiled thinly, and concentrated briefly. Her hair suddenly turned electric blue, and the badge lit up and started flashing. The effect was quite noticeable. "No, it's not broken." She concentrated again, and the hair was pink.

"Your hair is pink?" Remus was having some difficulty processing this idea. "I thought that was just ... you messing around." The badge was still flashing. "Er, shouldn't that stop now that you're back to normal."

Tonks laughed, but it was a bitter sound. "This badge can detect when someone morphs, alright, but the designers obviously didn't know a thing about Metamorphmagi." The badge suddenly stopped flashing.

Remus said, "I thought that it was supposed to flash whenever you weren't in your normal form? That's what it said in the paper anyway."

"That's why I said they obviously didn't know anything," replied Tonks. "I don't have a 'normal' form. I've never had one. When I change, I change. I can't tell you what I would look like now if I weren't a Metamorph, because I don't have that base shape. So this device is easily fooled, because my system thinks its normal after it gets used to the change, which is in, ooh, a couple of minutes."

Remus thought that over carefully. "You never mentioned that before?"

"Well, you never asked." When Remus did not smile, Tonks continued, "That was always a big plus; you weren't always pestering me about what I really looked like. A lot of my friends always used to do that. It was _so_ annoying."

Remus nodded and took another bite of toast. "So, why pink hair?"

Tonks bared her teeth. "They all think that this thing will force me to my 'natural' face. So, I'm messing with their heads. They won't like pink hair, but what can they do about it? I'm going to stand up and be counted."

Remus had his doubts as to the effectiveness of this strategy, but Tonks was not in a mood to listen to them. With a kiss for good luck, Tonks disappeared off to work.

As he was rather worried about her, Remus made little progress that day on either of his two problems: the Parkinson Manor, and a safe bolthole for the other werewolves. He returned home as early as he could, and ended up lounging round with Cal.

Tonks appeared a bit later than usual; Remus took one look at her face and knew that she had had a bad day. Corroborating his opinion, Tonks looked down,a nd started to fiddle with her badge, working it loose, and then finally throwing it bad-temperedly into a chair.

Cal appeared at her side, bearing a small glass of sherry. She made an effort to smile at him, took up the glass and then stormed to a different chair. Cal looked over at Remus and shrugged helplessly, clearly leaving the field to him.

"So, how did it go?" As conversational openers, it was not one of his best.

Tonks took a gulp of her sherry. "Awful. Absolutely awful." A pink curl bobbed in front of her eyes and, muttering a curse, she closed her eyes and her hair turned brown.

"What happened?"

Tonks studied her fingernails intently. "Well, nobody complained about the pink hair."

"That doesn't sound too bad." Obviously there was something else.

"Hmmm. Apparently I morph all the time unconsciously. I never knew! The damn badge kept lighting up _all_ the time. It was terrible. And everyone kept just looking over and staring at me, as if, as if..."

She could not finish the sentence, and Remus perched himself on the armrest of her chair, wrapping an arm round her shoulders.

Tonks leaned into him and said nothing further for a few seconds, before starting again. "I didn't even realise. I mean, how dumb is that! I thought that I had to decide to morph."

"What do you mean? You always have to think about it before you change your hair."

"Yeah. But apparently I make lots of little changes all the time. We were at lunch and I was reaching over my cup, and the badge starts flashing! I must have lengthened my arm or something. Without even thinking about it. And another time, I was earwigging someone's conversation, and it started flashing then. And, lots of other things. I couldn't bear it."

"Are you sure the badge wasn't malfunctioning?"

"Well, I'm fairly sure. I did some tests in the privacy of my own office. And I guess it makes sense. They must be little morphs that don't make a big change. I mean, changing your hair colour is quite tricky, especially as it's all dead, but lengthening a finger a couple of millimetres – I mean, I obviously just do it naturally. Who knew? I mean, I knew that I changed a lot, but that was usually consciously. That's why I was always so clumsy when I was younger; I was always changing too much, too fast, and forgot how long my legs were meant to be, or whatever. That's why I stay in more or less the same shape these days!" She paused for a moment, and then continued, rather sadly, "Even when I knew, I couldn't stop it this afternoon. It's like breathing, or whatever. I just couldn't stop. I'd lean over to pick something up, and be concentrating as hard as you like, and the damn badge would still light up."

Remus gave her a squeeze. "You'll work it out. You work everything else out! The Ministry will just have to get used to it."

"Easy for you to say. Even the guys I've been working with for years were, like, why do you keep morphing? They just didn't get it. I'm tempted to pack it in, I really am." Tonks leaned back, trapping Remus' arm, and stared into the corner, before looking at Cal. "Don't worry, Cal. I'm not going to. I just really, really, hate this."

After dinner, to relieve some of the day's various stresses, they all trooped out to the _Green Dragon_, and resolutely talked about non-magical things. This was somewhat aided by the new installation of a plasma screen television in the pub, and the football match playing out on it. Remus knew very little about football, and Tonks took some sort of pleasure out of explaining the intricacies to him. Apparently, England was involved in a qualifying match for the 'World Cup'. The pub was full of vocal supporters.

Towards the end of the match, it became impossible to pay attention to anything else. Remus actually felt a bit concerned, but Tonks did not seem to mind. It seemed to be taking her mind off the badge, which had to count for something. After the referee blew the final whistle, the place erupted in cheers. The mood was infectious, and even Remus felt himself grinning.

The pbu emptied a bit later than usual, and Remus and Tonks hung around to wait for Cal and Draco, who had quite a lot of cleaning up to do. Eventually, they started on their way home.

Draco said chirpily, "Hell of a game, eh?"

Cal nodded. "And some. Especially that shot towards the end. Amazing."

Remus looked at them. "Do you two play Quidditch ever? I mean, you used to play at school, right Drake?"

Draco shrugged. "Well, I don't fancy joining any of the local teams. And, watching the footie on the TV beats watching a Quidditch match on the WWN. That's for sure. I mean, Quidditch is okay, but you need a lot of stuff to play. Football, all you need is a ball."

"You play?"

Draco shrugged again. "Well, I've tried a couple of times, but I missed out on all of those years of practice when I was a wizard, so, I'm a bit rubbish really."

Remus did a double take. "When you were a wizard? You can still cast spells, right?"

Draco smiled. "Of course I can. I meant, when I lived like a wizard." He paused, and then said, "So, how're the secret operations going?"

Remus smield thinly. "Actually, I've been trying to think of a good place for all of us werewolves to go at the full moon. Don't want to go back to Sorrel's, that's for sure, but we'll need somewhere safe to transform. Or rather, not a danger to anyone else."

Draco nodded. "Tricky. Where do you have in mind?"

Remus tugged on his earlobe. "I've been drawing a bit of a blank, to be honest. It needs to be big, and secure, from both wizards and Muggles."

Cal piped up. "How about one of the old castles; you know, the ones that are spelled to look like ruins to the Muggles."

Tonks shook her head. "No, most of them have magical trips, to let the Ministry know if anyone goes on site."

"Really?" said Remus. "I thought that they were free to visit?"

"Oh they are. The trips are just so that the Ministry can track down any vandals."

Draco suddenly said, "I know! There are all these old disused factories in Manchester. I was watching a programme on the Open University about them. Muggles don't go near 'em. Nothing wizard about them. All we'd need to do would be to strengthen the walls in the lower rooms; Transfiguration or the like, for the full moon. Then, Bob's your uncle."

Tonks looked at him approvingly. "That just might work."

Remus had another question in mind. "Open University?"

Draco glanced away. "It's a Muggle thing."

Remus looked at him, and then Draco sighed and said, "It's a series of courses that you can sign up for that you complete at home. There are TV programmes on all the stuff. I haven't signed up for any of the courses, but anyone can watch the TV shows.'

Remus nodded. "Well, it sounds like the best idea I've heard so far. How about we all check it out on Saturday?"


End file.
